The Season of Passage

[Abd]

@Scout , did you read that book?

It’s mesmerizing to me.

[Scout]

Nah. I’ve only read some snippets of what you posted.

[Abd]

You should (if you want to, for cause of fascination, in my eyes at least), I already read it at least twice if I recall correctly.

Thanks anyway.

NINETEEN

There was good news and there was bad news. Lauren tried to focus on the positive side. Number one, Gary and Bill had been able to patch the tear in the Hawk’s hull. Number two, communications had been restored with the Nova, and consequently with Earth. Lauren had sent a message to Terry complaining of the poor working conditions. Terry had responded with a tape saying that her biography was already exciting enough, and that no new material was necessary. He had looked worse than when she had left Earth. She hoped he hadn’t started drinking again.

The bad news. The puncture to the basement had sucked out a good portion of the available air inside the ship and had caused their one and only water tank to explode. Their filtration system, which allowed them to reuse their urine, had also been wiped out during the rough landing. They had only three one-gallon bottles of water, plus the small amount that was still lying in their pipes. Without water they couldn’t steam-clean their suits when they came in from the outside. Without water they would be thirsty.

The morning after their second landing on Mars, Lauren searched in what was left of the laboratory for an aspirin. She didn’t find one. The majority of her medical supplies lay strewn at the bottom of a mile-deep crevasse that lay but

fifty feet south of the Hawk’s landing pads. Gary had cut it pretty close. Lauren had a headache, another one. She had worked hard the previous day, and then had slept poorly. In dreams Carl told her how beautiful she was. He assured her that he had a good eye for women. She had awoken with a wretched taste in her mouth.

Lauren left the basement and climbed into the living area.

‘So it’s definite,’ Jim said as she came in. ‘There’s only one lander?’

‘Yes,’ Bill said.

‘In the scopes,’ Gary said, ‘I can see a big hole where the other ship is supposed to be.’

‘Interesting,’ Jim said. He exchanged a glance with Bill.

‘What is it?’ Gary asked.

‘Nothing, Major,’ Bill said. ‘Let’s concentrate on the remaining Russian ship. According to Lauren, within two days our thirst will become unbearable. We will use these two days wisely. We will take the jeep to the Karamazov now.’

‘Who’s going?’ Gary asked.

‘Jim, Lauren, and myself,’ Bill said. "There will be no discussion. Gary, you will remain with Jessie and continue with the repairs. Understood?’

Gary looked disgusted. ‘Yes, sir.’

‘Friend,’ Bill said. ‘Open the garage and start the jeep.’

[Yes, Bill.]

Bill turned to Jim and Lauren. ‘We will take two laser rifles with us,’ he said.

Given the rough terrain that surrounded them on all sides, the plateau where they had landed was a freak of nature. Covered with pinkish-white snow, its shape was roughly oval; two miles long and half that in width. They had been

fortunate Gary was able to bring the Hawk down on the plateau. The nearby cliffs and peaks would have made the bravest of mountain climbers shudder. North, south, and west was no man’s land. East stood Olympus Mons, its forty-mile-wide caldera invisible behind shifting ice clouds.

The bulbous wheels of the jeep spun briefly in the snowflakes and then caught, as Bill steered them slowly forward. Their vocals were open, and they could hear one another speak.

‘It’s flat here, and then it’s so mountainous,’ Jim mused. ‘It was thoughtful of the Martians to provide us with such a nice landing strip.’

The Karamazov waited in the distance, standing twice as tall as the Hawk; a cold stake pointed at a desolate sky. It looked intact.

‘What do you think of this place, Jim?’ Lauren asked.

He was a long time in answering. ‘It reminds me of when I hiked in the Himalayas. Yet, it’s different, so alien.’ He paused. ‘To tell you the truth, I hate this place.’

His remark startled Lauren. ‘I think we’re all on edge after the last couple of days,’ she said.

‘Perhaps,’ Jim said.

Soon the Karamazov filled their field of view. Bill parked the jeep in the shadow of the lander, and they climbed down onto the snow, huddling like insects at the base of the ship’s landing pads.

‘I assume you have the key to this castle?’ she said to Jim. He held up a small metal box with three dangling wires.

‘Gandalf couldn’t have been better prepared,’ he said.

A many-ranged ladder scaled halfway up the side of the Karamazov. At the steps, Bill stopped them, saying, ‘I will go first. The metal may have weakened in the cold. Once I am on the platform before the airlock, you will follow, Professor. Then you, Lauren, after Jim has joined me.’ Bill

turned his radio on. ‘Major Wheeler?’

‘Gary here, sir. How might I help you this fine day?’

Bill glanced up the ladder and then to the west, where the missing lander had once stood. ‘Listen to me, Gary, and listen good,’ he said seriously. ‘We’re in now, and we will be keeping in contact. But if for any reason you do not hear from us in the next hour, begin preparations to lift off. If after two hours, you still haven’t heard from us, you will wait for the next favorable opposition with the Nova and then leave. You will not under any circumstances come looking for us. Is that understood?’

Jessica wailed in the background. Gary said with a trace of humor, ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I am very serious,’ Bill said.

There was a lengthy pause. ‘As you say, Colonel,’ Gary replied.

Bill broke the connection and said, ‘Release the safety on your laser, Lauren.’ He stepped onto the ladder.

Fifteen minutes later the three of them were gathered on the square corrugated platform before the Karamazov’s airlock. They were pretty high up; Lauren was glad she wasn’t afraid of heights. There were too many other things to be afraid of on Mars. Jim attached his fancy electronic gear and labored with the door for several minutes.

‘Is the seal frozen?’ Bill asked finally.

Jim tried to scratch his head and then remembered his helmet. ‘Possibly,’ he said. ‘I tripped the lock but nothing’s happened.’

‘Maybe we should knock,’ Lauren said.

To her surprise Jim did so. To her greater surprise, the door slid open. ‘Must have loosened it,’ he said.

Lauren gulped. ‘I hope you’re right.’

They stepped into the airlock. The door automatically closed behind them. Lauren put a finger on the laser’s

trigger. Fog crept up their legs as the chamber filled with air. They decreased the reception of their vocals to keep their whispers from sounding like thunder. Presently, a second door slid open, all by itself, and they stepped into a dark circular hallway, lit faintly by colored dials. They turned their helmet lamps on. Jim studied a computer board on the wall to their right, and decided it was a life-support terminal. It was still working. The atmosphere was intact, but slightly below freezing. The cold was a bad sign, and the dark; that is, if they were hoping to find survivors. Jim couldn’t locate a light switch.

They passed through an open door into the center of the Karamazov, and found themselves in an elaborate laboratory. Numerous frozen blood slides lay on a counter beside an electron microscope. Lauren picked one up. It looked as if the Russian doctor had been busy, and that his work had been interrupted.

A compact elevator lifted them to the next level, a living area. Sitting on a low table was a chess game, in remission. Lauren began to perspire in her suit. Black was playing black. There was no doubt who was going to win.

The living area branched into three tiny bedrooms. One for each of them. Welcome Earthmen. Bill said they should check them out. He disappeared into the one on the left. Jim took the one in front. Lauren wanted to chase after them, and plead with him that they shouldn’t separate. But she was afraid to look stupid. They would only be on the other side of the wall, for godsakes.

Yet her short meeting with Carl had taught her a thing or two about being alone. Even an instant was long enough for the hand holding the jagged sliver of mirror to reach out and lay her open like a cow on a butcher’s block. Yes, her meeting with Carl had been instructional in every sense of the word. He had put things in her head she was never

going to get out. Whispered words of love. She was sure Carl would have tried to kiss her even when his blood was gushing out of his neck.

Lauren stepped quietly through the doorway that led to the right-hand bedroom. Almost immediately she let out a sigh of relief. The room was not much different than the bedrooms aboard the Nova, except that the Russians had had bunk beds. Both bunks were unmade, with the blankets piled indiscriminately on the lower bed. Best of all, the room was empty. She loved empty rooms that didn’t have corpses in them.

Then Lauren noticed something odd. There seemed to be a lack of circulation in the lower sections of her suit. Cold was seeping from the floor into her legs. Quickly she consulted her suit indicators, but everything was as it should be. Then she noticed a bad smell, which should have been impossible inside her suit. The odor was both familiar and elusive at the same time. It was definitely a stink of decay, but whatever was rotting was totally foreign to her.

Lauren convinced herself she was just imagining things. She crossed to the desk and picked up a family picture. The woman was tall, of slight build, with long red hair and sad gray eyes. The children, a girl and a boy, were both dark-haired, and the man standing behind them was the commander of the Gorbachev, the first human being ever to step on another planet. She was in Dmitri Maximov’s quarters, and the realization saddened her. Such a wonderful man, she thought. She sat in the chair by the desk and opened the top drawer. Inside she found a thick book. She leafed through the pages. It was Dmitri’s diary, recorded in Russian, in a firm graceful hand. She decided to take it back to the Hawk and have Friend translate it.

As Lauren closed the diary and prepared to stand and leave, she caught the slightest trace of movement at the

limit of her peripheral vision. It came from the lower cot, and it made her freeze so solid she could have turned to stone. It was just her imagination running away with her, sure, she knew that. But was there just a one in a million chance there was someone under the blankets?

Come look, come peek. You know you want to, Lori.

Lauren thought of calling Jim and Bill. They were just in the other rooms. She was having trouble speaking, though; it had something to do with her dry throat. And even if she could talk, she had to wonder whether she wanted to make a fool of herself again, as she had with Carl. Of course it was another Carl she was worried about. Good old Carl. He seemed to be with her now, giving her advice. There really was no other way to explain why she was standing up and walking toward the bed. There was no other way to explain the voices in her head. She was getting kind of used to them by now, although she knew they weren’t really there. Still, it annoyed her the way they kept calling her Lori when her real name was Lauren. So what if Gary called her Lori? He was her friend. Carl wasn’t.

Nor were Carl’s partners.

The only light was from her headlamp. It filled the room with shadows. Lauren knelt by the bed. There was definitely something beneath the blankets. It could be another blanket. Or maybe a pile of clothes. Clothes were often put beneath blankets, she thought. She put them there herself sometimes. Once she put a whole pile of laundry beneath her blankets on Halloween in an effort to convince Terry that there was a body sleeping in their bed.

A body, Lori.

Lauren touched the blankets and began to peel them back. She told herself it was her duty to do so, and a voice said inside her head that she should enjoy her duty because it might just…

Get me killed.

Lauren dropped the sheets and sprang to her feet. She had to fight with every nerve in her body to stop trembling, and it was a fight she won for about two seconds. Then she began to scold herself, as was her habit when she was afraid. So the wind was blowing like it hadn’t blown in a million years. So Carl had winked at her. So black was playing black. She was a fucking astronaut. She didn’t believe in ghosts. If there was a body under the blankets, then fuck it. It was dead. It wasn’t going to bite her. It wasn’t going to drink her blood. Carl hadn’t tried to drink her blood, even if he had talked about it.

Come on, Lori, we did a little more than talk. Admit it.

There is no one there!

Lauren put her finger on the laser trigger and aimed it at the bed. Using the tip of her right boot, she began to ease the blankets away. It was not so terrible. It could have been a lot worse. She knew that from experience. There could have been blood. There could have been dangling nerves, floating eyeballs. Yuck! Here there was just blond hair, pale skin, closed eyes, a frozen grin, a bony chest, gray shorts, skinny legs, and a dead Russian.

Call Jim. Call Jim. Call Jim!

Lauren didn’t call anybody. She was under a spell. She was no longer breathing, although blood roared in her head. She knelt beside the dead Russian. She touched his abdomen and studied the texture of his skin. It was not frozen. It was soft, too soft to make sense in the sub-freezing temperature. Increasing the reception of her vocals and tilting her helmet to the side, she pressed her head down and listened for a heartbeat. It was a dumb thing to do with a two-year-old corpse, she realized, and naturally she didn’t hear a thing except her own pounding heart. She straightened up and then leaned over to study his face.

He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

‘Jim!’ Lauren screamed. She fell on the floor and scrambled away. ‘Jim!’

The corpse sat up slowly and faced her, still smiling. Lauren ran backward into the desk. The corpse stood and looked down at her, then took a step toward her. Lauren shoved desperately back against the desk, but it had nowhere to go, and neither did she. The corpse took another step in her direction, and then another. Coming. Coming. Please, Mummy, tell me that it doesn’t mean anything, that it’s only a story.

Lauren found her laser - it was still around her neck -and aimed the muzzle at the Russian. She put four pounds of pressure on a five-pound trigger and swore in her mind for it to come no closer. Four hundred million miles to rescue you, buddy, but if you touch me, I’ll blow your goddamn guts all over the wall.

The Russian’s teeth glinted in her head lamp.

It bent over and reached out its hand.

Stop!

‘Wait!’ Jim called from the doorway. Bill crouched by his side, his own laser aimed at the Russian. Jim stepped into the room. He spoke softly. ‘Wait.’

The pale Russian turned his outstretched hand in Jim’s direction. They shook hands. Lauren thought she was going to faint. She was pretty sure she had wet the flannels inside her suit. That was OK. Pee smelled a lot better than the room did.

‘You’re Ivan Zossima,’ Jim said, his voice no doubt clear to Ivan even through the faceplate of his helmet. There was plenty of air inside the Karamazov, even if it was cold. 'I remember your face. My name’s James Ranoth. We’re the

American expedition. We’re happy to see you’re alive.’

Alive. Ivan nodded his head at the mention of the word. Lauren realized she had almost committed murder.

‘Hello,’ she said gamely to Ivan. ‘I’m sorry about my reaction. It’s just that I thought you were dead.’ Ivan smiled. She continued, ‘My name’s Lauren Wagner. Can you speak English?’

Ivan shook his head. Bill stepped into the room, his laser still held ready. ‘Where are the other members of your crew?’ he asked.

Ivan grinned. His irises were like green marbles.

Lauren whispered to Bill and Jim, ‘He looks like he’s in shock. When I found him he was lying so still. I ain’t kidding, I thought he was dead.’

‘If I’d been lying here for two years, I don’t think I’d look much better,’ Jim said. ‘What temperature do you have in here, Lauren?’

‘Same as the monitors said downstairs. Just below freezing. He must be cold.’

‘He’s not shivering,’ Bill said. ‘Could he have adapted to this temperature out of necessity?’

Lauren nodded. ‘There have been cases where people have survived lengthy exposure to cold with little or no protection. Our physiology is remarkably adaptable.’

Ivan stared at them as they spoke. He was exceptionally pale, although he was not emaciated. His eyes were a puzzle. He watched them, yet he did not give the impression he actually saw them. He did not blink.

Jim indicated the picture on the desk. ‘Ivan, where is your commander? Where is Dmitri? Do you understand me?’

Ivan nodded. He pointed out the door. His nails were long.

‘Anything in the other rooms?’ she asked Bill and Jim.

‘No,’ Bill said. ‘I’m going to make a quick inspection of the rest of the ship. Lauren, do not get so close to him that he could take you by surprise.’

‘Bill?’

‘Do what I say.’ He left the room.

Once more Jim gestured to Dmitri’s picture. ‘Do you really know where the rest of your crew is, Ivan?’

Again Ivan nodded and pointed out the door. ‘Are you cold?’ Jim asked. He made a shivering gesture. Ivan smiled, showing his big yellow teeth.

‘Do you know any Russian, Jim?’ Lauren asked. ‘I read somewhere that you can speak sixteen languages.’

‘I can speak six languages, but unfortunately Russian is not one of them. But Friend can translate what he has to say. Where did you find him? On that bed?’

‘Yes,’ Lauren said. ‘He was just lying there, under the blankets. He didn’t get up or move when I walked in.’ She paused. ‘That’s strange. Look at him.’

‘What is it?’ Jim asked.

‘It’s his body language. He doesn’t have any.’

‘He’s smiling.’

‘Those are not normal smiles,’ she said. ‘They look mechanical.’

‘You’ll have to examine him.’

Lauren nodded. ‘But we can’t take him back to the Hawk. He could have an alien disease.’

‘Very alien,’ Jim agreed. They lapsed into a watchful silence. Ivan continued to wear his grin, and Lauren was reminded of Carl, blissful Carl. Bill returned.

‘The ship’s empty,’ he said. ‘Have you discovered anything further from Zossima?’

‘He continues to nod and point out the door when we ask about his companions,’ Jim said.

Bill stepped past Ivan and grabbed the photo. He shoved

it in front of Ivan’s face and pointed at Dmitri. ‘Take us to him,’ he said.

Ivan nodded and left the room. They followed after him, and he led them to another bedroom. There he pushed a tiny red button which uncovered a clear round porthole. He pointed east in the direction of Olympus Mons.

‘Dmitri Maximov is there?’ Bill asked.

Ivan nodded.

‘You will take us to him,’ Bill said. ‘Now.’

Ivan appeared to understand. He nodded again.

Jim gestured to their jeep far below. He made a steering motion. ‘Should we drive?’ he asked.

Ivan imitated the steering motion and nodded enthusiastically. He led them to the laboratory and began to put on a suit. Bill contacted the Hawk. ‘Major Wheeler?’

‘Yes, sir?’ Gary said.

‘We’ve found a survivor.’

‘Sure, Bill. I understand.’

‘Ivan Zossima is alive. He appears to know where the rest of his crew is. There are no bodies here. We are going with him in the jeep to investigate. Notify Houston.’

‘Huh? You’re serious? The dude’s really alive?’

‘Yes,’ Bill said. ‘Colonel Brent out.’

When Ivan finished putting on his suit, they left the Karamazov and climbed in the jeep and rolled over the white plateau toward Olympus Mons. The Hawk fell behind on their right. Ivan sat in the front seat with Bill, occasionally pointing the way. Lauren figured if they drove another half mile they would ram into a wall of solid rock. However, as they got closer, she saw a jagged black hole in the side of the mountain, the mouth of a cave. Jim saw it, too, and leaned forward and tapped Ivan on the shoulder. He pointed at the opening. Ivan nodded in his bulky helmet. He was an agreeable fellow.

‘If we go into the mountain any distance,’ Jim said to Bill. ‘We’ll lose our communications.’

‘I know,’ Bill said. He glanced at Ivan. ‘We’ll stay on our toes.’

A minute later they were forced to park the jeep. The ground before them rose steeply, and it was piled with rocks. The cave loomed a hundred feet overhead. It was lined with sharp stones that bore an uncanny resemblance to teeth. Lauren did not want to go in there. She thought that if she did, she would never come out. But Ivan was leading them happily forward, seemingly gaining new life with each passing second.

The weak gravity helped their climb up the rocks, and they were able to reach the opening of the cave without the aid of ropes or their jetpacks. They carried fresh oxygen canisters with them from the jeep. Plus flares, environmental monitors, and of course their lasers. At the door of the cave, Bill instructed them to halt. Once more he contacted the Hawk.

‘Major Wheeler?’

‘Your wife is throwing a fit,’ Gary said.

‘Tell Jessie we will be careful,’ Bill said. ‘But there could be a danger here, a danger we are totally unfamiliar with.’ He explained the terrain to Garry. ‘We will be underground for a while. If you do not hear from us in eight hours, you will once again begin preparation to take off, and then leave at the next favorable positioning of the Nova. No effort is to be made to find us. I think you understand the importance of this order, Gary.’

‘Not really, but I’ll do what you say.’

‘Good,’ Bill said. He turned off his radio.

‘Isn’t that a bit drastic?’ Lauren asked.

‘Not in my opinion,’ Bill said. ‘But I wouldn’t mind if you stayed with Jessie and Gary.’

Lauren shook her head. ‘I go where you guys go.’

‘We can’t be too careful with the rest of mankind,’ Jim said to Lauren. She glanced at Ivan. His grin remained frozen on his face as if it were constructed of hard wax.

‘I suppose so,’ she said.

They plunged into the tunnel, and left the snow behind. Quickly Lauren’s eyes adjusted to the dimness. The cave was approximately thirty feet wide, half that in height, with smooth, black, marble-like walls and floor. The floor and walls were not made of marble, however. Not only did the material fail to reflect their lights, it actually seemed to absorb the beams. Jim rubbed his gloved hand over the substance.

‘It’s of volcanic origin,’ he said, puzzled. ‘It’s very hard. But I don’t know what it is.’

‘You never told me,’ Lauren said. ‘Is Olympus Mons extinct?’

‘No,’ Jim said.

‘I wish you’d never told me,’ Lauren said. Jim smiled. Lauren continued, ‘This place almost looks as if it were carved by a machine.’

‘It does appear unnatural, doesn’t it?’ Jim added thoughtfully, ‘Still, here are places on Earth that give the same impression.’

Ivan led them forward at a fast pace. The cave veered to the right, to the left, and then it started to go down, with an angle of declination close to forty degrees. With the exception of Ivan, they all came close to slipping a number of times. The cave kept its uniform black smoothness, and they walked on and on, without much talk. Ivan must have been in good shape, his two years of isolation notwithstanding. Lauren’s thirst grew; she felt hot. Perhaps unnaturally hot. When they had been marching for close to thirty

minutes Jim brought them to a sudden halt.

‘What is it?’ Bill asked. He held his gun ready to fire, and kept his eyes on Ivan.

‘What temperature do you have, Lauren?’ Jim asked. His voice sounded loud.

‘Why, it’s two degrees above freezing!’ she exclaimed. ‘And the air pressure is up threefold. It’s at thirty-one millibars.’ With the denser air, it was no wonder they sounded loud. They were going to have to turn their vocals down.

‘How is that possible?’ Bill asked Jim.

‘A shift in temperature is to be expected as one goes underground, especially into a volcano. But the pressure is another matter. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s possible the tunnel is being fed with a constant supply of gas. But I haven’t noticed any drafts. I really don’t know, Bill.’

‘I see,’ Bill said.

They continued their descent. Another half hour of vigorous walking passed, which brought them to a distance of approximately three miles from the plateau. If they did not reverse their course soon, Lauren thought, they would be pressed to meet Bill’s eight-hour deadline. It was going to take them much longer to climb out of the cave. For all of her powers of endurance, Lauren was exhausted. More than anything else, she would have liked to stop and drink a big glass of water. Jim trudged by her side, his head bowed, his breathing hard. Of course he never complained. Bill and Ivan pulled a short distance ahead. Incredibly, the air pressure tripled once more, and the temperature crept five degrees above freezing.’

Abruptly their commander stopped and shouted something. Jim and Lauren caught up a minute later. Her first impression was that the cave had dead-ended. Bill and Ivan

stood before a circle of featureless black. Then she realized that a few feet in front of them the walls and the floor vanished. They pointed their lights in every direction and saw nothing.

‘You’re lucky you didn’t walk off the edge,’ Jim said.

‘No thanks to our friend here,’ Bill said. ‘Do you think it’s safe to shoot a flare?’

Jim considered. ‘From the sound of our voices, yes. This space must be huge. But set the fuse for proximity detonation.’

Bill unhooked the flare launcher from his belt and adjusted the fuse. Then he raised his arm and fired. Lauren began to count. When she got to two the place exploded in a dazzling shower of white light. What she saw made her stagger back a step, overwhelmed by the titanic scale of what the flare revealed.

She was looking at the cave’s big brother. The walls were smooth black; they rounded up in a half circle from a perfectly flat floor. Only this floor was quarter of a mile across, and the tunnel appeared to stretch forever in both directions. As the flare fell lower and began to die, Lauren saw a sight that filled her with a wonder she had never before experienced.

‘He saw canals, there is no doubt.’

The floor was a perfectly still sheet of water.

The flare fizzled in a puff of steam and went out. For a long time they said nothing. Ivan pointed to the right, up along the massive waterway.

‘Our friend here seems bent on leading us further,’ Bill said finally. He looked over the edge. ‘I think it’s a good two-hundred-foot drop to that water. What is your opinion, Jim?’

Jim knelt at the edge of the cliff. ‘The Russians must have explored this canal.’ He pulled up a piece of rope that was fastened to the cliff wall with a metal spike. A faint splash sounded from the water far below. ‘The way we just came is wide enough for Hummingbird. The drop would make no difference.’

Bill nodded. ‘So I was thinking. Lauren?’

‘The atmospheric pressure has increased, but not enough to allow water to exist in its liquid phase.’

‘Professor?’ Bill said.

Jim shook his head. ‘It’s close. It’s just a little off, like everything else on this planet. The water could contain something that increases its cohesiveness.’

Bill addressed Ivan, who continued to point up the canal. ‘Is your commander that way?’ he asked.

Ivan nodded.

‘Incredible,’ Jim whispered. He dropped the rope and climbed to his feet.

‘What is it?’ Lauren asked. ‘I thought he understood some English.’

‘No,’ Jim said. ‘It’s incredible that he heard Bill. We have our radios off. Ivan has no vocals.’

‘He could have read his lips,’ Lauren said.

‘First he acts like a mindless zombie,’ Bill said sarcastically. ‘And now he’s reading our lips.’

‘The air pressure is much higher,’ Lauren said. ‘He might have been able to hear us without vocals.’

‘It’s possible,’ Jim said, unconvinced.

‘He’s always nodding,’ Lauren protested.

Bill yelled at Ivan. ‘Can you hear me?’

Ivan gave no reaction.

‘See,’ Lauren said. ‘He was just nodding at whatever you said.’

‘Maybe,’ Bill said slowly. 'Or maybe he just hears what he wants to hear. I don’t like anybody who lies in a freezing ship in his underwear for two years. Before we go chasing

up this canal, Friend is going to have a little talk with Ivan. Did you hear that, Mr Zossima?’

Ivan gave no reaction. Bill took his arm. ‘Come along,’ Bill said.

Ivan shook free. He pointed back up the canal. Bill pointed in the direction of the plateau. He grabbed Ivan’s arm a second time. The Russian pulled sharply away.

‘Strong devil,’ Bill muttered. He aimed the laser at Ivan. Ivan grinned. Bill averted the rifle and fired at the water. A blinding bolt of ruby light cracked the air, followed by a black geyser of gushing steam. The noise echoed into the bowels of Mars.

"The water must be deep,’ Jim observed. ‘The energy of your laser appears to have been absorbed solely through steam. The shot didn’t penetrate to the bedrock.’

Bill turned his weapon back on the Russian. Ivan stopped smiling. He remained stubborn, however, and refused to return with them. Finally Jim intervened.

‘Violence won’t help us, Bill,’ he said. ‘If he wants to stay, let him stay. We need Hummingbird anyway.’

Bill nodded reluctantly. ‘Very well. Ivan’s interrogation will wait. Since our program revolves around discovering the fate of the Russians, we will return with Hummingbird. But we will establish a series of relays starting from the mouth of the cave so that the exploration of this canal can be monitored from the Hawk.’

‘Who’s going up the canal?’ Lauren asked.

‘You and Gary will remain at the Hawk,’ Bill said. ‘Jim and Jessie will be stationed here. I will go up the canal.’

‘Alone?’ Jim asked.

‘No,’ Bill said. ‘I will take Zossima here, since he’s the only guide we have.’

‘Do you think that’s wise?’ Jim asked.

‘No,’ Bill said. 'But I want the risks to be mine alone.

With relays, and a booster here, I should be able to remain in constant contact.’ Bill gestured to Ivan. ‘Lauren, if Zossima insists on staying here until we return, then you had better give him your lamp and an extra oxygen tank. His equipment is adaptable to ours. It was made in the United States. We will start back now.’

Ivan had sat down at the edge of the cliff so that his feet dangled into the void. He appeared to be quite content to remain behind. As Lauren handed him her equipment, he bowed slightly in her direction and said something inside his helmet that she didn’t catch. It wasn’t Russian, though, she was sure of that. It didn’t even sound like words humans normally made, no matter where they came from.

Lori.

Lauren took a step back and Ivan bowed once more. He grinned and showed her all his yellow teeth. She noticed then how red his lips were, how bloodshot his eyes looked. They were like a couple of rotting strawberries staring through veined slots.

Lauren left him quickly. She swore she was never coming down here again.

End of Chapter 19

[Abd]

TWENTY

Houston approved their plan to explore the ‘canal.’ Lauren found it interesting how they had all settled on the word. There was no reason to think the waterway was anything more than a natural formation. Jim said Lowell’s drawings were coming back to haunt them. Gary was reading The Martian Chronicles again.

Houston did not want the public to know of the canal or Ivan, at least for now. Lauren had a feeling they would never know.

At present Lauren sat in the Hawk’s control room with Gary. It was cloudy outside, as usual. It was difficult to tell where the sun was, but their clocks said it was going to set soon. On their viewing screens, Bill was giving his wife and Jim final instructions. They sounded oddly familiar. If he did not return in six hours, he said, they were to return to the Hawk and leave Mars. No rescue was to be attempted. Lauren and Gary watched as Bill climbed into the front seat of Hummingbird beside Ivan. He carried a laser.

‘Why is he so fanatical about us leaving at the first sign of trouble?’ Lauren asked.

Gary leaned back in his chair. He wore a royal blue sweatsuit that went well with his curly black hair. ‘You forget Bill’s a colonel in the United States Air Force,’ he said. ‘He’s just afraid of a Communist plot.’

‘I’m serious, Gary.’

He yawned. ‘So am I.’

‘There’s more to it than national security. Jim’s full of foreboding hints, too. I keep thinking they know something we don’t.’ Lauren shook her head. ‘You have to see that Ivan. He’s so weird. Bill and Jim are very suspicious of him.’

Gary was unimpressed. ‘You’re the doctor, Lori. Both of them are probably concerned that Ivan’s contracted a new disease that he’s anxious to share with us.’

‘If that’s true,’ Lauren said, ‘then the disease appears to have helped keep Ivan alive.’

‘Why haven’t you examined him yet?’ Gary asked.

‘When? I had to chase after him right after I met him. Then he refused to return to the ship.’

Hummingbird lifted from the floor of the cave and floated over the icy waters. Lauren activated a monitor that relayed the reception from the craft’s forward camera back to the Hawk. Slowly Bill dropped Hummingbird near to the water, using the surface to create a trapped air cushion, and thus save fuel. The canal swam with tiny waves beneath the force of the jets. Bill put Hummingbird in first gear and the ship moved forward. A powerful wide-angle searchlight illuminated his path. Curved black walls drifted by. Bill upped his speed.

‘How is she handling over the water?’ Jim asked from his position at the edge of the cliff.

‘Smooth,’ Bill said.

‘Watch your fuel,’ Jim cautioned.

Gary nudged Lauren’s side. ‘Here we are thirsty, and we’ve a canal full of water to drink,’ he said.

‘Don’t even talk about it,’ Lauren said. ‘It will just tempt us. We still need to get a sample to examine.’ She paused. 'I

shouldn’t have drunk so much when I returned.’

‘Don’t sweat it, Doc,’ Gary said. ‘No pun intended. I’m not feeling too dry. But I’m worried about Jim. He hardly drank a thing. I think he wants us to take his share.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ Lauren said.

‘Martyrs,’ Gary said. ‘They turn up on space expeditions all the time.’

‘Hey, Gary?’ Lauren said. ‘You read up on the Russian crew. What do you remember about Ivan Zossima?’

He shrugged. ‘Ask Friend. He probably knows what Ivan’s favorite ice cream is.’

‘Friend, give me a visual on Ivan Zossima,’ Lauren said. ‘Screen F. Cut the audio. We should have checked on him right away, Gary.’

[Yes, Lauren.]

"There’s a lot of things we’re not doing,’ Gary muttered.

Lauren studied the screen.

[Zossima, Ivan Gregory: 1970-? Russian cosmonaut. Born in Volgograd. Only child. Received elementary education at Lock, where he won distinguished honors. Entered the University of Volgograd in 1988 and was awarded a B.S. in physics in 1992, an M.S. in aeronautics in 1995. Entered the Russian Academy for Cosmonaut Training in 1996. Is best known as second in command of Project Gorbachev, the first manned expedition to Mars. Believed to have perished on the Martian surface in 2002. Detailed summary follows:]

‘Wait, Friend,’ Lauren said, glancing back at the screen that was hooked into Hummingbird’s forward camera. The walls of the canal had not changed, nor had the water. Bill had upped his speed to fifty miles an hour. ‘Give me a visual on the subjects Ivan studied while at Volgograd University,’ she said.

[Yes, Lauren. 1988: Psychology, Russian Literature,

Physics, Calculus, Chemistry, English 1.]

‘Stop,’ Lauren said. ‘Did he study English as a foreign language?’

[Yes, Lauren.]

‘For how many semesters?’

[Four, Lauren.]

‘Based on the records of his performance in those courses, would you say he could speak English?’

[Yes, Lauren. But not fluently.]

‘Does he have any record of psychological difficulties?’

[No, Lauren.]

‘They don’t send people to Mars who are nuts,’ Gary said.

‘You heard what Friend said about his English courses,’ Lauren said.

‘I had four semesters of German in college, and the only thing I can remember is how to ask someone if they’re sick. Bist du krank? Ivan probably just forgot most of what he learned.’

‘I wonder,’ Lauren said. She opened a line to Jim. ‘This is Lauren.’

‘Bill doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere,’ Jim said. ‘It’s incredible - the symmetry of the walls. What can I do for you, Lauren?’

‘I’ve been checking up on Ivan Zossima,’ she said. ‘It seems he took four semesters of English while in college.’

Jim considered. ‘Interesting. Did you hear that, Bill?’

‘That’s interesting,’ Bill said. His voice sounded distant. But then a note of excitement entered it. ‘Can all of you see this?’ Bill asked.

Lauren’s eyes flew back to the screen. The scenery was changing, in a big way.

‘Wow,’ Gary gasped.

The canal’s walls had come to an abrupt end. Bill

revolved the forward camera around the space and revealed nothing, absolutely nothing. He had entered a gigantic cavern.

‘Do you see a shore in the distance?’ Jim asked.

‘No,’ Bill said. ‘Nor a ceiling.’ He panned the camera back the way he had come, down the canal, which resembled an endless archway.

‘Right now would be a very easy time to get lost,’ Jim warned.

‘I’m holding my position,’ Bill said. ‘But my guide is urging me forward. I’m sending up a flare.’

Bill aimed his camera into the heart of the void. Seconds went by. Suddenly a white star took birth in the void, and Lauren faintly glimpsed a distant island. Yet she saw no enclosing walls, no ceiling. Soon the flare exhausted itself, and went out in the black water. Night returned. Fortunately Friend had frozen their brief glimpse at its moment of greatest resolution. Lauren studied a secondary screen. The island looked like a barren Pacific atoll that had been transplanted to the far side of the moon.

‘What is the distance to that land mass, Friend?’ Bill asked.

[1.782 miles, Bill.]

‘Professor?’ Bill said.

‘What can I say?’ Jim replied. ‘Be careful.’

Hummingbird flew forward. Several minutes passed. Vague outlines of a lonely shore began to emerge in the beam of Bill’s searchlight. But when he was on the verge of reaching the land, the picture went fuzzy.

‘Stop,’ Jim ordered.

Bill did so. ‘What is it?’

‘We’re losing the picture,’ Jim said.

‘What about my voice?’ Bill asked.

‘It’s a bit lower, but still clear,’ Jim said.

‘Could the many miles of the canal be responsible for the interference?’ Bill asked.

‘I think the island is to blame,’ Jim said. ‘If it is an island. The interference came very suddenly. How is your compass?’

‘Spinning,’ Bill said.

‘Magnetic,’ Jim muttered.

‘I’ll proceed slowly,’ Bill said.

‘Be careful,’ Jessica whispered.

Their video reception quickly worsened. Lauren strained for details. She saw a low natural wall separating the water from a relatively flat beach. Bill landed Hummingbird on the beach. The picture became so bad it was next to useless.

‘Send up another flare,’ Jim advised. ‘Let’s get a better look at where you are.’

‘A moment,’ Bill said. ‘I want to examine this coast.’ He sounded as if he were climbing out of Hummingbird, and then walking.

Then she heard a second pair of feet, coming quickly.

‘Bill!’ Jim shouted. ‘Watch your back!’

‘Professor,’ Bill said, a note of surprise in his voice. Then his voice became pure surprise as he let out a shocked cry. ‘Oh!’

They heard a loud splash, a horrible choking sound. Then silence…

Hummingbird’s picture went dead.

‘William!’ Jessica cried.

They called for five minutes before any of them would admit that they had lost the commander. In the control room of the Hawk, Lauren bowed her head. ‘I should never have woken that corpse up,’ she said.

End of Chapter 20

[Abd]

TWENTY-ONE

The flashing red light on the airlock turned a steady green. The door slid open. Jim trudged inside and plopped down on a chair. Lauren helped Jessica remove her helmet. Jessica did not look upset, or sad, or alive.

‘Oh, Jessie,’ Lauren cried. ‘I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have let him go. He was always too brave. We’ll do something. We’ll think of something.’

Jessica’s face was blank. ‘What, Lauren? What will we do?’

They looked to Jim, their new commander, their wizard. Lauren prayed that he would find the magic that would make everything all right. ‘Let’s get out of these suits,’ he said. ‘We’ll talk in the living area.’

Later, they gathered at Jim’s feet. He wanted to know if there was any word from Houston.

Gary snickered. ‘They’re in conference. They’ll be in conference two years from now, at the next Martian conjunction.’

Jim took a deep breath. Salt crusted his parched lips. ‘We have Bill’s last orders. We’re supposed to leave without him.’

‘We can’t leave William,’ Jessica mumbled. ‘No.’

Lauren spoke bitterly. ‘To hell with his last order.’

‘What do you say, Gary?’ Jim asked quietly.

Gary stood and paced the floor. ‘He was my commander. He gave me an order. I always follow orders.’ Gary stopped and pounded the wall. ‘Hell, I don’t want to leave Bill. But what does it matter what any of us want? Hummingbird is gone. I sure can’t swim three miles in a pressure suit.’

‘It would be dangerous,’ Jim said to himself.

‘What?’ Lauren asked.

Jim smiled faintly. ‘I always wanted to be a sailor.’

‘A boat?’ Lauren asked. ‘How could we build a boat?’

‘I’ve given the matter some thought,’ Jim said. ‘Actually, we don’t have to build a boat. We already have one. The jeep. All we have to do is drive it down there, pop the engine out, and lower it over the side.’

Gary was skeptical. ‘It would sink.’

‘No,’ Jim said. ‘I’ve worked it out mathematically. The wheels will displace enough water to float four people.’

‘It’ll leak,’ Gary said ‘The bowl of the jeep isn’t watertight.’

‘It will only leak in two places,’ Jim said. ‘At the steering wheel shaft and at the accelerator pedal. We’ll patch those two places.’

‘What will we use to propel it?’ Gary asked.

‘Our shovels,’ Jim said. ‘They can be used as paddles.’

Gary thought for a moment. ‘It might work.’

Lauren sprang to her feet. ‘Let’s start now.’

‘Wait,’ Jim said.

‘What is it?’ Lauren asked.

‘Our original question,’ Jim said. ‘We’ve all brushed it aside. Should we go after Bill? Or better yet, what happened to him?’

‘Ivan attacked him,’ Jessica said bitterly. Life had returned to her face with Jim’s suggestion of a boat.

Jim nodded. 'Yes. But how did Ivan overcome him?

Bill’s a strong man. Plus he carried a laser rifle.’

‘Ivan snuck up on him from behind,’ Lauren said. ‘It sounded like he pushed him in the water.’

‘What of it?’ Jim said. ‘A momentary drenching shouldn’t have harmed Bill’s suit or his laser. He should still have been able to fend for himself.’ ‘What are you thinking?’ Gary asked. ‘Many things,’ Jim said. ‘Why did Ivan do it? Supposedly he was leading us to the rest of his crew. I never believed that, nor did Bill. How could any of them have survived outside the confines of their ship? At best I thought he might know where their bodies were. But I had other reasons to doubt Ivan. He walked and acted like a zombie, yet at the same time there was a shrewd intelligence about him. Look at what he accomplished. Without saying a word, he tricked us all into letting him accompany Bill -alone - to a spot I believe he was anxious to return to. Then he successfully overcame Bill. Some zombie. But why did he do it? I keep coming back to that.’ ‘He’s insane,’ Lauren said. ‘He’s a monster,’ Jessica said. ‘Maybe he just hates blacks,’ Gary said. Jim rubbed his tired eyes. ‘Something inside me keeps warning me to stop and think, to put all these pieces together so that they make sense. I feel I must do this before it’s too late.’ He looked at Jessica. ‘I’m sorry, Jessie - it’s probably too late already. The chances are Bill is dead.’

Lauren rubbed Jessica’s shoulders. ‘We’ll work on the boat with the assumption that he’s still alive,’ Lauren said. ‘We’ll work as fast as we can.’

‘If the boat idea does work,’ Gary said. ‘We’ll be prowling around down there in the dark with a lunatic lurking nearby. He’ll probably have Bill’s laser.’

‘It’s something to keep in mind,’ Jim said. He stood slowly. ‘I guess the bottom line is that we won’t go home without him. Gary, notify Mark and Houston of our plans. We’ll work on the boat immediately.’

‘What if Houston objects?’ Gary asked.

‘Let them object,’ Jim said. ‘It won’t bother me.’

Jessica began to cough. ‘I need water,’ she whispered.

Lauren went into the basement and returned with their final one-gallon jug. She let Jessica drink about ten ounces before taking the bottle away. She handed the water to Jim. ‘Your turn,’ she said.

‘Maybe later,’ he said. ‘I’m feeling pretty good right now.’

Lauren shoved the jug in his face. ‘Drink ten ounces right now. That’s a medical order.’

Jim took the water after a moment’s hesitation. Lauren knew he was close to dehydration. Outside the porthole, the sky had cleared, and Olympus Mons’s full majesty stood uncloaked. Stars twinkled around its broad caldera like jewels in a king’s crown.

‘I keep thinking of all those cubic miles of water underneath that volcano,’ Jim said. ‘And then I think about how thirsty I am.’

Lauren nodded. ‘That’s bad.’

Jim screwed the top back on the water jug. ‘I think it might be part of the plan,’ he said.

They ended up dismembering the jeep after they had driven it to the canal. Jim figured it would save them time and energy. He was right about how simple it was to modify the vehicle, much to Gary’s surprise. The most difficult part was unscrewing the engine and lifting it out. Here the low Martian gravity came to their aid. They used more of the same metal sheets they had used to patch the hull of the Hawk to plug around the jeep’s gas pedal and steering column. Gary took less than twenty minutes to weld the metal in place. One thing for sure, Jim said: they weren’t going to be able to fix the jeep again so that it drove on land. If the modifications went better than they hoped, lowering the jeep down to the water proved to be a bitch. The Hawk’s stores contained an excellent set of pulleys and ropes. Unfortunately, they had difficulty fastening the equipment to the smooth black floor of the cave. The material was not simply hard; it was next to impenetrable. Studying the area around the Russian’s spike, Jim figured they had melted the ground in order to put it in. He decided to do likewise to secure their pulleys. Watching the ground turn red and soften under the fierce green laser of the welding gun, Lauren couldn’t free herself of the idea that the ground was really composed of an intelligently formulated alien alloy. Jim said it was as hard as anything he had ever seen.

Finally they were in a position to lower their makeshift boat, and Gary’s muscles came in handy, never mind the low gravity. It was two hundred feet to the water, and they all sighed with relief when the jeep didn’t sink.

‘Of course, it will be worse if it sinks when we’re in it,’ Jim said.

Houston had not approved or disapproved of their plan, but Houston had made one thing plain, and Jim had agreed. Under no circumstances was Gary to accompany them on the rescue attempt. He was the only one who could fly the Hawk now that Bill was missing. In fact, Jim and Houston didn’t want Lauren to come, either, but she had insisted. Jessica was a fine biochemist but Lauren didn’t think she’d be of much help to Jim in the event Ivan came after them.

The Hawk also carried a lengthy rope ladder in its stores.

Jim and Jessica climbed down to the boat first; it appeared to support them without strain. Finally it was Lauren’s turn. Gary gave her a goodbye hug.

‘If you see the bastard, shoot first and ask questions later,’ he said.

‘Are you talking about Ivan or Bill?’ she said.

He swatted her on the butt. ‘Keep your head low, Doc’

Lauren started down the ladder, knowing that if she slipped, she would probably die in the icy waters of the canal. She tried imagining she was in the forest in Wyoming near Terry’s cabin, climbing out of a green pine tree into the blue lake. Those days seemed centuries ago.

‘Ten more rungs and you’re down, Lauren,’ Jim said a minute later, shining a light at her feet.

Lauren stepped carefully onto the wobbly craft and quickly dropped to her knees. They distributed their weight about the boat and Jessica handed her a shovel to paddle with. ‘How long will it take us to go three miles, Jim?’ she asked.

‘It depends on which way the wind is blowing,’ he said.

After some experimenting, they decided that only two should paddle at one time. Because Jim was showing signs of fatigue, Lauren suggested she and Jessica take the first shift. Lauren was pleasantly surprised to find how easily the boat moved once they got going. The calmness of the water helped. Lauren and Jessica slipped into a steady rhythm, keeping the raft close to the wall of the canal lest they accidently reverse their direction. Time flowed by, measured in strokes.

‘Hold,’ Jim said suddenly, after about forty minutes. Lauren relaxed, glad for the break. Her right biceps was beginning to cramp. ‘Still there, Gary?’ Jim asked.

‘Yes,’ Gary said. ‘Have you reached the end of the tunnel?’

‘Yes. Now all we have to do is cross over to the island.’ Jim paused. ‘How are you sitting, Gary?’

‘Huh?’

‘Sit with your back to one of the walls so you can see in both directions at once,’ Jim said.

‘Why?’ Gary asked.

‘I don’t want anyone to be able to sneak up on you,’ Jim said.

‘Now you’re making me paranoid,’ Gary said, his voice uneasy. ‘Hey, your signal’s getting dim.’

‘It’s the same pattern as before,’ Jim muttered. ‘When we reach the island, we’ll probably lose contact altogether. When you think you’ve waited long enough…’

‘Understood,’ Gary said.

Jim reached for a paddle. ‘Let me give one of you girls a break.’

‘I want to keep paddling,’ Jessica said.

‘We’re a team,’ Lauren said. ‘We’re training for the Martian Olympics. You take it easy.’

‘Sure?’ Jim asked.

‘Sure,’ Lauren said. ‘What now?’

Jim dimmed their lamp. ‘Ordinarily I would send up a flare, but surprise might be a strong element in our favor. Of course, that means we might miss the island altogether and get lost in the dark. Try to paddle as evenly as possible so that we go as straight as possible.’

The last half mile seemed to take far longer than the previous mile. Lauren found it difficult to reach forward on her stroke; she kept expecting to see Ivan’s face grinning at her from beneath the water. Eventually, though, without warning, they bumped against a sharp-edged four-foot natural wall. They hauled themselves onto the desolate beach and secured the raft. The ground was similar to the floor of the tunnel, and for the short distance they could

see with their lights, it was also flat. Regrettably, Hummingbird was nowhere to be seen. They didn’t know whether to head to the right or the left, or straight ahead. Plus, Gary was no longer answering their calls. And on top of everything else, they realized that one of them had to stay behind and guard the raft. Lauren volunteered.

Jim and Jessica went to the right and hugged the coast, searching for Hummingbird as a starting point. Lauren killed her light and sat down in a night so black she could have been in a buried coffin. She kept her back to the water, and had her vocals turned to maximum reception, straining to hear even the faintest sound of approaching feet.

After approximately fifteen minutes, Jim’s voice whispered over her headset. They had found Hummingbird, undamaged and deserted. They were starting inland. Jim said he would spot the ground every hundred feet with phosphorescent paint. Lauren wished them good luck.

More time passed. Lauren’s legs began to stiffen. She stood and walked back and forth on the empty beach, stretching. She knew it was psychological, but the darkness seemed to be getting thicker, crowding down upon her. She even began to have trouble breathing, and had to check her suit monitors every few seconds to convince herself she was not running out of oxygen. Jim spoke again in her headset, and this time she jumped. They had found hills, he said, and ponds of water, and dangerous crevasses. But no Bill. The interference must indeed be radiating from the island. She could scarcely hear him. She told him to be careful.

It was a shame they were not able to follow her advice. Only a few minutes later, Jim was on the radio again. Jessica had fallen into a gully and hit her head. Her suit was intact and she was breathing normally, but she was unconscious, and he couldn’t wake her. Lauren said she would come. Jim said something else as she got up but his remark was lost in the growing static. Lauren thought he might have used the word pushed.

Lauren turned on her headlamp, out of necessity, and began to trace her friends’ steps at a brisk pace. It took her only a few minutes to reach Hummingbird. The craft appeared undamaged. She tried contacting Jim but couldn’t get him. She briefly contemplated flying Hummingbird inland to where Jessica lay injured. Then she vetoed the idea, remembering that Ivan might have Bill’s laser. If he did, it would be a snap for him to blow her out of the air. Damn the president, she thought, for giving them such dangerous weapons. They would have been better off with nothing.

Jim’s markers were readily visible, eerie X’s of phosphorescence. She scuttled from one to the next with her head low and her legs bent, like an animal on the prowl. But who was chasing after whom? Her every step generated a trail of false echoes, creating the illusion that she was being followed. Perhaps because she was so thirsty, she suddenly felt dizzy. She had felt the same way aboard the Gorbachev, just before making Carl’s acquaintance. She didn’t like it. The funny thoughts came into her head, the thoughts that were more like whispers in a dream, a very bad dream that was taking her forever to wake up from. Or maybe she was just talking to herself, and that was all there was to it. She had to talk to somebody. She could see it now. The papers would say what a brave woman she had been. She went to Mars and never returned. She left behind one darling sister and one lovely fianc6. A sad tale but true, and the later expeditions never found her body.

Lauren reached the hills Jim had mentioned. Here the ground lost it hard smoothness, becoming rough and brittle in texture. She tried her radio again. ‘Jim? Jim?’ There was no response, and the silence made her worry, boy did it make her worry.

She plowed forward. The ground rose gradually at first, and then began to seesaw sharply. Aiming her lamp upward, she realized she had moved beneath an overhang of rock. She tried to convince herself that was the reason Jim couldn’t hear her, but since he hadn’t heard her before, when there was nothing overhead, she doubted she was on the right track.

Ivan couldn’t have gotten him. I was just talking to him.

Lauren slowed her pace a notch as the ground became extremely uneven. She should have slowed down a couple of notches. A few seconds later the ground disappeared altogether beneath her left foot as she tripped into a small hole. She hit the ground with both hands outstretched and thus saved her faceplate from damage. But her left leg twisted out at an awkward angle and she heard an ugly pop in her knee. A burning liquid sensation throbbed through her calf and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. She climbed to her feet carefully. She suspected that she had torn her cartilage, and maybe even injured one of the ligaments in the knee. Walking was barely tolerable, but she kept going, all the while cursing the planet. It wasn’t fair, she thought. Just when she needed all her strength, Mars had to slip a hole under her foot. It was almost as if the place, as well as Ivan, was after her.

Oh, Lori.

Lauren whirled and snapped up the laser. But no one was there; no one ever was. It was just like the Gorbachev and the Karamazov all over again. Invisible corpses and zombies calling to her between her ears, where they had no right to be. A second wave of dizziness swept over her. For a moment she feared the light atop her helmet was failing, for it flickered. But perhaps it was her eyes that were the

problem, she could not be sure. She wished she could remove her helmet for a moment to rub them. They seemed to be reflecting on her faceplate inside her helmet; she would have liked to have rubbed the glass as well. Just to be sure it wasn’t Carl’s eyes she was seeing again. Yes, Lori, wouldn’t that be amazing. We could rub our special parts together and enjoy every inch of our duty. Surely that wouldn’t make us evil.

Lauren came to a pond. Focusing her helmet light on the water, she noticed that, although the bedrock was clearly visible near the edge of the pond, it dropped off sharply only a short distance out. The pond must be deep.

What is that?

Lauren took a step closer to the water, and as she did so, she listened closely. Tiny ripples had begun to arise on the surface of the pond, and she was hoping that a breeze was causing them. But of course she didn’t hear any breeze because she was miles under the ground. Something else must be causing the ripples.

Something beneath the surface of the pond.

Lauren slowly began to back away from the water’s edge. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to die. Not in this hell. Anywhere but here. The planet was supposed to be uninhabited. Everyone knew that. The best scientists on Earth had written books about how totally uninhabited Mars was. She had read their books. Yet there was only one thing wrong with those scientists. They had never been to Mars.

Something beneath the surface began to splash loudly.

Lauren turned and ran.

It wasn’t fair. She tripped in another hole.

A spray of water erupted at her back, as a creature quick and terrible emerged from the cold well. Lauren froze -for a split second - and then leapt to her feet. But she

jumped up without first figuring out what she wanted to do. For starters she tried to flee, but her injured knee buckled after only half a dozen steps and down she went again. Even in her extreme terror, she quickly realized she was not going to be able to outrun it. Without looking, she could hear it coming, coming fast.

Yes, Lori.

Frantically Lauren moved up onto her good knee and pivoted her body, bringing the muzzle of the laser to bear while simultaneously reaching for the trigger. But then Mars itself betrayed her again. The rifle weighed thirty pounds on Earth, but only ten on Mars. The mass, however, and therefore the inertia, was unaffected by which planet the weapon was on. The laser might have felt light, but it was in reality still a respectable chunk of electronic gadgetry. As she spun around, she generated enough momentum to swing her well past her target. In fact she spun almost an additional half circle around before she could stop herself. As a result she placed her back directly in the path of her assailant. Before she could straighten out, a wet and powerful arm wrapped around her neck.

‘Jim!’ she screamed.

The arm tightened and lifted her off the ground. Lauren pounded wildly with her fists. It was dragging her toward the pond. Calling upon every muscle in her body, she yanked herself to the side. Its grip was awesome, impossible. She didn’t budge an inch.

‘Kill you!’ she cried. ‘I’ll kill you!’

Her laser swung freely at her side. If she had but a few inches, she could revolve it around and fire. She kicked at the ground, arched her back, and swung with her elbows. She accomplished nothing. It wrapped a second arm around her. It could have whispered in her ear. Suddenly she knew its purpose. It was going to drag her into the water

and hold her head under the black surface until the cold penetrated her brain and poisoned her mind. Then she would be just like it was. Just like Carl.

They were almost there. Lauren heard splashes. Time to swim. Just the two of us, naked together, Lori.

‘No!’ Lauren screamed.

Abruptly the grip loosened, as the creature stumbled on the underlying bedrock. Lauren heaved to the side. Incredibly, she broke free.

‘Bastard!’ she cursed.

Lauren dashed from the pond, water spraying her faceplate. But in her hurry, she failed to establish her balance properly, and stumbled once more. Passionate claws chased after her. Wait, Lori. Let’s talk. Let’s discuss. I love you, Lori.

She was learning. She was going to run no further, and she was not going to lose her balance again. Carefully rotating through a half-kneeling position, she brought up the laser. She took quick aim. She was barely in time. The creature’s fingers were reaching for the tip of the muzzle when she pulled the trigger.

There was a blinding explosion. The shock of it threw Lauren to the ground, where the top of her helmet hit a rock. For a minute she lay dazed, pulsating spots of gray and brown clouding her vision. When she tried to sit up, her head sagged on her shoulders as if her neck had turned to putty. There was red everywhere. At first, she attributed the color to the shock her eyes had received with the firing of the laser. But then she blinked a few times, and the red became clearer. She was a doctor. It shouldn’t have mattered that the red was blood - splattered everywhere. But all her training had not prepared her for what she saw.

Because the human body was mostly water, the laser beam had vaporized the liquid within his midsection, which is where she had been aiming when she pulled the trigger. The pressure of the steam had caused a violent internal explosion and torn him into two gaping sections, and a number of smaller pieces; there was seared flesh all over the entire area. Still, Lauren had seen some pretty messy bodies in her days at the hospital. She might have held on if her lamp had not accidentally flickered onto the edge of the pond, and revealed his faceplate. His head and face were still there, clearly visible atop a mound of dripping white ribs and spongy pink lungs. His skin was still pale and his lips still red. But it was just too much, too much by about sixty million miles, that Ivan was still grinning at her. Lauren fainted.

She could hear someone calling her name from far away. It didn’t sound like anyone she knew. It was probably a policeman. Over here, officer. She remembered being in a terrible accident. I’m in the bushes, officer. She remembered blood, everywhere. She opened her eyes and winced as a bright light stung them.

‘Please help me, sir,’ she whispered.

‘It’s Jim, Lauren.’ He knelt by her side. ‘Everything’s all right. You killed him.’

Lauren sat up slowly. One glance at the pond was more than enough to bring back the attack. She felt sick to her stomach.

Would someone please close his eyes.

‘He won’t be bothering us anymore,’ Jim said.

She looked away. "That’s for damn sure.’

‘Are you hurt? Is your suit damaged?’

‘I’m fine.’ Jim helped her to her feet, and her left knee reminded her that she was not perfectly fine. The joint felt like burning mush. ‘Where’s Jessie?’ she asked.

'I left her where she fell. I couldn’t raise you on the radio,

and you were taking so long to reach us. Then I heard an explosion and raced here.’ He hugged her. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see someone in my entire life. I take it Ivan attacked you?’

‘Yes.’ She shivered. ‘But let’s talk about it later. Let’s get Jessie. I hate the thought of her lying out there all alone. Even with Ivan dead.’

‘I know what you mean,’ he said.

Jim carried her laser, and offered his arm for support. Jessica was half a mile away, and Lauren limped the whole way. The terrain continued to climb, and the number of ponds and pits only increased. Jim thought the hills had been created by recent volcanic activity. He called them an afterthought.

Jessica was not alone in the crevice when they reached her. Her husband knelt by her side. He stood quickly at their approach.

‘Bill!’ Lauren exclaimed.

‘Man, are you OK?’ Jim cried.

They climbed into the wide crack in the ground. Their commander greeted them quickly and efficiently, as though nothing extraordinary had happened - the same old Bill. Of course, he was concerned about his wife. He wanted to know what had happened to her. While Jim explained the situation, including Ivan’s attack, Lauren gave Jessica a brief examination. She said she wasn’t bleeding and nothing appeared to be broken. However, she had an ugly bruise on her forehead and her breathing was not normal; it was definitely slow and shallow. Lauren feared she had suffered a serious concussion, and was now slipping into a coma. Lauren told Bill the bad news and he took his wife’s hand and placed his left palm on the top of her helmet. Almost immediately Jessica’s eyes opened.

So much for my diagnosis.

‘Don’t touch me,’ Jessica whispered.

‘Jessie,’ Lauren said loudly. ‘It’s us. Stay awake. Bill’s here.’

A slow smile filled Jessica’s face. ‘You got away, William.’

Bill helped her up and Jessica hugged him. The enemy was dead, and her friends were alive. Lauren began to relax. They had been lucky, she thought, very lucky.

Bill related his story. As they had surmised, Ivan had surprised him from behind and pushed him in the water. The water didn’t harm his suit, but when he climbed back on the shore and tried to shoot Ivan, his laser was dead. The liquid must have got into the electronics. Ivan wasn’t through. He attacked Bill again, and he was fierce, and remarkably strong. He tried to rip off Bill’s oxygen tanks, and Bill was barely able to escape in one piece. But he had nowhere to flee except inland. It was his hope to lure Ivan away from Hummingbird, and then circle around and leave in the hovercraft. Unfortunately, without visible landmarks, he got lost in the dark. He had been wandering around for what seemed an eternity when he chanced upon Jessica.

‘But one good thing has come from this,’ Bill said. ‘While I was lost, I stumbled upon a volcanic cavern. It’s beneath a hill close to the center of the island. A narrow cave leads down into a huge room filled with bubbling lava pits. There’s a dig in there - it’s obvious the Russians were working on it. You must visit this place, Professor. All of you must go there. It’s a fascinating place.’

‘Shouldn’t we just return home?’ Jim asked. ‘Our water supply is almost gone.’

‘Not yet,’ Bill said. 'We have a job to do. Billions have been spent on this mission. We can survive another day or two. For now we will return to the Hawk, and Lauren will

examine Jessica more carefully. We will rest. But tomorrow I want to explore further.’ Bill paused. ‘We still have to find out what happened to the Russians.’

End of Chapter 21

[Abd]

TWENTY-TWO

Professor James Ranoth awoke from an uneasy doze, feeling dry and troubled. He checked his watch and sighed. It was late afternoon on the day after the day they had set out to examine the Karamazov. He had been in bed for three hours, but he couldn’t have slept more than twenty minutes. Insomnia had been his lifelong companion, but unlike most people, he always enjoyed the hour or two before sleep came; he used the time to think long and deep, or just to daydream. But what plagued his mind now, and refused to let him rest, was far from pleasant. He felt dread, pure and simple. He had felt it since the first night they spent on Mars. Only now it was much worse.

Jim sat up. Gary slept peacefully in bed on the other side of the room, but Bill was missing. Lauren had ordered the entire crew to rest for a minimum of six hours, when they had finally returned from their adventures beneath the surface. To simply ignore Lauren’s order, Bill couldn’t have been that tired, or else he had felt there was something that needed his immediate attention.

Jim stood and went into the empty living area. It was then he noticed the odd odor. It smelled unlike anything he had encountered before, sort of a cross between spoiled eggs and drying blood. He reminded himself that their

recycling systems were damaged, but the reminder did nothing to soothe his nerves. At the same time he wondered whether he was really smelling anything at all, whether it wasn’t just in his mind. In either case whether inside his nostrils or inside his head, the smell was repulsive.

Jim decided to check on the women. He opened their door quietly. Jessica lay on her side without a cover, her mouth wide open and snoring. Lauren was flat on her back, her pretty features at peace. She, also, was uncovered, and Jim had a fatherly urge to tuck the sheet around her. He had never understood why he loved her so much, but he knew that his love was the one thing he didn’t need to understand. She was special to him, it was that simple. What was more complex was how he was going to keep her safe. The possibility that she might not return home was unbearable to him.

Jim was on the verge of leaving when Lauren’s forehead suddenly creased. She was having a nightmare, he thought, and he considered waking her. But if she regained consciousness now, he knew she would probably remember the nightmare, and for no reason that fact disturbed him. He continued to watch her. She raised and moved her arms above her chest as if she were trying to push something away. Her breathing became rough, and her exposed flesh was suddenly covered with gooseflesh. Finally, however, she relaxed, and her arms dropped to her sides. Jim closed the door.

He was climbing the ladder that led to the control room when the pain started in his chest. It was like a heavy weight on top of his ribcage. The pain spread quickly across his shoulders and down into his arms. He closed his eyes and took slow deep breaths. He didn’t need Lauren to tell him it

was his heart. The long sleep had been unkind to him. Since awakening from hibernation, he’d had trouble catching his breath. He knew Lauren suspected he had a problem, but he had fooled her the last time she had examined him aboard the Nova, just prior to the Gorbachev rendezvous. He had tampered with her medical computer, and made it register the same EKG tracing as the person who had been examined before him, which just happened to be Gary. He’d done this so he wouldn’t be disqualified from the second landing. He wanted to be with his friends when they learned the fate of the Russians. He believed then, as he did now, that they would need his help.

The pain eased. Feeling small and inadequate, Jim climbed the remainder of the ladder into the control room. Bill sat before Friend’s main program console. The sky outside the windows was a dull pink and filled with clouds.

‘Can’t sleep, either?’ Bill asked, without looking up.

‘I never sleep that much as it is,’ Jim said. ‘Have you been talking with Mark, or is this his rest period, too? The last couple of days have got me confused.’

‘I can’t raise him,’ Bill said.

Jim’s heart skipped. ‘Are the communications out again?’

‘Yes’

Jim crossed to the computer board. ‘When did this happen?’ he asked. He checked the Hawk’s electrical power supply.

‘An hour ago.’

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’ Jim asked.

‘You looked exhausted. I wanted you to rest.’

‘It must be the generators again. Have you cross-checked the A and C coils?’

‘Yes,’ Bill said. "They appear in good shape.’

‘What does Friend say?’ Jim asked.

‘Ask him.’

‘Friend, we have a malfunction in our communication systems. What is the cause?’

[I am unable to diagnose the difficulty.]

‘Why not?’ Jim asked.

[Because of damage to my own systems that I sustained during the landing.]

It struck Jim as odd Friend hadn’t mentioned such specific damage before. He spoke to Bill. ‘I want to check the generators directly. They’re powered by our rocket fuel. We could have a serious pump malfunction.’

Bill looked at him for the first time. ‘Why don’t you have a seat, Jim, and relax.’

‘OK.’ Jim sat in a swivel chair opposite his commander. ‘It has to be the generators. They caused the interruption the first time.’

‘I’ve inspected the generators. I told you they’re fine.’

‘You may have missed something,’ Jim said.

‘I doubt it.’

Jim leaned back in his chair, feeling strangely trapped. ‘What is your opinion then, sir, as to the source of our problem?’

Bill was unconcerned. ‘It could be a million things. We can always get home without communications.’

‘Are you suggesting we leave now?’

‘No,’ Bill said.

‘But you don’t want to explore that island tomorrow, do you? In light of this problem?’

‘But I do. With the limited time available to us, exploration must be our first priority.’

‘What did you see down there, Bill, that was so fascinating?’

His commander brightened. ‘Inside the hill I spoke of is a cavern with strangely symmetrical dimensions. The place is lit by glowing pools of lava.’ His tone became confidential. ‘I’m not an archaeologist or a geologist like you, Professor, but I think there’s evidence of an incredibly ancient civilization in that place.’

Jim tried to check his rising excitement, for he sensed danger. ‘What evidence did you see?’ he asked.

‘Nothing specific. But the Russians were digging in a particular area. I feel certain you’ll discover something there.’

The answer was ridiculously vague. Jim’s feelings of trouble deepened. ‘You want us all to go to this place?’ he asked.

Bill rotated his chair until he was facing the ever-present mass of Olympus Mons. The caldera was lost in pink clouds. The cave into the depths was a faint black mark on the mountain’s rock walls.

‘Even though we’re in a hurry, we have to be careful,’ Bill said. ‘For that reason, I will explore the volcanic room, and will take only one companion with me per visit. Because of your expertise, you will be the first to come with me. But if time permits, everyone will be given an opportunity.’

‘That sounds reasonable,’ Jim said, barely hiding the sarcasm in his voice. He had finally realized what had been tugging at the back of his mind since he asked Friend about their failed communications. The computer had answered him, but had not addressed him by his first name, which it invariably did when responding to a person’s initial question. Was the change in protocol another by product of Friend’s internal damage? Or was sabotage the answer? -

Jim came to a decision. He would tell Lauren and Gary

of his fears in the event he died tomorrow in Bill’s fascinating cavern.

‘Bill,’ he said, ‘I’ve been thinking of taking Hummingbird to where the other Russian lander once stood, and examining the area.’

‘Not tomorrow. We’ll be busy tomorrow.’

‘I was thinking of going now,’ Jim said.

‘That should be OK. If you feel up to it.’

‘I would like to take Lauren and Gary with me,’ Jim added.

‘Fine.’

‘Do you have any idea what we will find there?’

Bill shrugged. ‘A hole in the ground.’

‘Yes. And we know what caused that hole.’

Bill nodded. ‘I’m sure we’re entertaining the same theory.’

‘Dmitri Maximov was responsible.’ Jim let the sentence trail, hoping Bill would pick it up, and tell him something new. But it was a futile attempt.

‘That worries you, I know. It worries me, too.’ Bill turned his attention back to Friend’s console. ‘Tell me what you find. Don’t be gone too long.’

Jim stood. ‘I’m taking one of the lasers. I might stop at the Karamazov on the way back.’

‘Fine. We can’t be too careful.’

Jim started down the ladder. When his head was at floor level he stopped and said, ‘I was relieved to hear Lauren say that Jessie’s blow to the head wasn’t serious.’

‘So was I.’

Jim had to ask. ‘Will she be accompanying us to the underground cavern?’

Bill was taken by surprise. ‘What did you say?’

‘Jessie. I was wondering if you wanted her to go back down there?’

‘Jessie,’ Bill whispered. His shoulders sagged, and as they did so, his aura of confidence and strength faltered. The transformation was as startling as it was sudden. Jim took a step back up the ladder.

‘Bill?’ he asked.

‘She’s been a great woman,’ he said softly. ‘I remember the day I met her. It seems like only yesterday. I was at the campus library, studying for a test. She sat across from me at the table and smiled. She said, “Hey, don’t I know you?”’ Bill stopped and massaged his temples, as if he were getting a headache. He shuddered.’ “Don’t I know you.”’

Jim began to relax. ‘We’ll keep her away from that place.’

But Jim’s relaxation did not last. The mirrors in the carnival funhouse always had two sides. Bill abruptly turned his back on Jim and repeated stiffly, ‘If time permits, everyone will be given an opportunity to go down there.’

It seems like only yesterday.

Jim knew the feeling. ‘We’ll be back before it gets dark,’ he said. He left the control room.

They floated in Hummingbird above a huge snow-veiled crater.

‘Looks like a meteor hit here,’ Lauren said. ‘Are you sure this is the place?’

‘There’s no doubt in my mind, Doc,’ Gary said. ‘The lander was sitting at the edge of this cliff. Right, Jim?’

‘Yes, this is the spot,’ Jim said. ‘But take us down, Gary. It’s making me dizzy floating above this crater. Land on the east side. We can enjoy the scenery, and watch the sun go down. There are a few things I want to discuss.’

‘Out here?’ Gary asked. 'Don’t you just want to photograph the area and head back? We could talk more

comfortably in the Hawk. I’m still exhausted.’

Lauren yawned. ‘Me, too. I’ve got a splitting headache. I keep wanting to melt some of this snow and have a nice long drink. I wish it wasn’t just frozen carbon dioxide.’

‘We have to talk,’ Jim said. ‘About this hole, and other things. Please?’

‘Well, sure, Jim,’ Gary said. ‘You know what made this crater?’

‘I think so,’ Jim said. ‘But take us down first. There’s a story I want to tell you both.’

A few minutes later, they sat on three separate red boulders, their backs to Olympus Mons, the evening sun shining pleasantly in their faces. Harsh beauty spread out beneath their feet. A mile-deep chasm sliced the side of the mountain, interrupting an otherwise smooth fifty-mile plunge to the Martian plains. It revealed a geologist’s treasure map of changing ages, and had Jim been relaxed, he would have spent hours studying it. But he worried that another age might come to an end if they returned home to Earth the way things were. The age of Man.

‘I wish Jenny was here,’ Lauren said. ‘She always loved beautiful landscapes. Whenever we drove somewhere new and pretty, she would sit by the window, entranced.’

‘You miss her a lot?’ Jim asked.

‘Yeah, I sure do,’ Lauren said. ‘I miss her more than the Earth itself. But I also feel she’s always with me. Terry told me she wanted to stay at the forest by his cabin, because that’s the place I love best. Jenny said that I would think of there when I got homesick, and that’s been happening. I see her in the woods in my mind, walking in the trees with the sun shining in her long hair.’ Lauren paused and frowned. ‘But that can’t be. It’s snowing in Wyoming right now. I’m glad she’s there, though. But I would like to hear her voice. Even if only on a tape.’

Jim thought of their severed communications. ‘Has Jenny ever spoken to Terry about the ring I gave her?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Lauren said. ‘She told him to tell you she wears it always.’

Anything else?’ Jim asked.

‘Not that I know of,’ Lauren said. ‘Why? I always meant to ask you about that ring.’

‘I always meant to tell you about it,’ Jim said. ‘In fact, the story I referred to is about that ring. It’s a rather long tale, but we have time. Would you two like to hear it?’

Gary and Lauren were agreeable. Jim closed his eyes for a moment and let the delightful memory wash clean his mind.

‘At the beginning of last June, I took a ten-day leave from our training schedule and traveled to India,’ he said. 'Like all of us at the time, I was very excited about going to Mars, but the work was seemingly endless, and I wanted to get away. I’m not sure why I chose India. I’ve always been fascinated by the country, and I’ve been there several times, of course, but only in the south. In India, though, wherever you are, the Hindus speak of the Himalayas in the north with superstitious awe. I’d heard so many stories about the great yogis who lived there, who could read minds and levitate, that I figured I just had to have a look.

'I flew into Delhi. The first night I stayed with an old friend of mine - Peter Davidson. He’s originally from California, but he had married an Indian woman, and had long been living in her country. He has two sons, Panda and George. I told Peter of my desire to visit the Himalayas, and he was enthusiastic. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get away from his classes. He teaches astronomy at the University of Delhi. But Panda and George - one’s twenty, the other’s nineteen - were out of school. They said they’d

love to be my guides. It seems they had gone on a number of religious pilgrimages to the temples in the Himalayas.

'Five days later found us in Gangotri, a tiny village about two miles above sea level. It’s way back in the mountains. By then I’d seen many a temple and met many a sannyasi -the saffron-clad monks who inhabit all of India. I was having a wonderful time. I love to travel, and the people I had spoken to about the Himalayas had been right about the special feeling you find in those mountains. I was not having religious experiences by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt like a kid again. I wanted to see and do everything. I wanted to stay. Still, I hadn’t met any yogis who had impressed me as enlightened or possessing supernatural powers. In that respect, I was somewhat disappointed, but I hadn’t given up hope.

'I was up early one morning, strolling down the cobblestoned street of Gangotri, when I met a sweet old man. He looked over a hundred. He had been educated in England, at Oxford, and we sat together and talked for hours. He didn’t have a tooth in his head, but he did have a habit of breaking into fits of laughter that would last five minutes at a stretch. He was wonderful company.

'He told me about a valley I should visit near the Gaumukh Glacier. The glacier lay only twelve miles northeast of where we were seated, and the valley beneath it was supposed to be filled with flowers of a hundred different varieties. He spoke of it as an enchanted valley, and said many ills could be cured just by walking through it. By the way, the idea of the therapeutic nature of smells was not new to me. In Ayurveda - that’s ancient Indian medicine - there are whole sections of text devoted to aromatic cures. The old man told me he had gone for a walk through the valley on his eighty-fifth birthday, when he was about to die, and that had been ten years ago and he was

feeling great. He called the valley Devashan - the dream of the gods.

'I was sold. I dashed back to my room at the ashram and told Panda and George about the valley. They shared my enthusiasm for the trip. Within an hour, toting our camping equipment, we were on our way.

'We made excellent time that day. I told you this was June, and the bridle path we followed was free of snow. My companions were experienced mountaineers. But the sun began to set before we could reach the glacier. We camped that night in a rock hollow just off the path. I remember falling asleep that night with a million stars in the sky. I felt at peace, and I slept deeply.

'The next day we reached Devashan. The old man had been right - it was one uninterrupted sheet of flowers. It stretched for several miles, half a mile below the lip of the glacier. I know it may sound odd, so many blooming flowers so near a bank of icy snow, but the glacier does in fact melt several feet in the summer. Although it was sunny, the valley was still cool.

'I cannot describe the smell of Devashan to you. It saturated the air, but I would be doing a disservice to the place to say I felt smothered in aromas. The air was wonderfully stimulating. I bounded forth into the valley, with Panda and George at my heels. But we might have been too hasty. George stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle. It was not a bad sprain, and there was a nearby stream where he was able to soak it in the cold waters. He did not feel like walking any more that day, though, and his brother wanted to stay behind with him. I told them I would walk just a few miles into the valley and then return. I figured we could camp by the stream where George was soaking his foot. I believed a night’s rest was all he needed to recover.

'There was hardly a cloud in the sky as I climbed down into the valley. But after I had been walking less than an hour, the sky suddenly clouded over. Summer storms know a special kind of sorcery in the mountains. When I say suddenly, I mean it. Thunder roared, lightning cracked. I was soaked in seconds. I turned around and started back. Then things started to get interesting.

‘Devashan normally had a strong smell. I have already made that point. I can’t say the rain actually increased the strength of the odor. It may even have decreased it. However, when the water mixed with the many flowers, it sent different smells into the air. Indeed, I found myself taking in lungfuls of intoxicating aromas. But I use the word intoxicating reluctantly. I didn’t feel stoned. In fact, I felt more awake. The sky was a dreary gray, but now the flowers appeared to be glowing. Everything was beautiful, illuminated. I know what you must be thinking. That I had fallen under the influence of a hallucinogenic. I can’t argue the point, except to say that it was a hallucinogenic unlike any I have ever read about. It seemed to have no side effects. But now I’m going to totally contradict myself. I couldn’t find my way back to Panda and George.’

‘Why not?’ Lauren asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Jim said.

‘Were you walking in circles?’ Gary asked.

‘No,’ Jim said. ‘I headed straight back the way I came. The only problem was, when I got to the stream it was gone. So were the guys. The glacier covered the whole area.’

Gary snorted inside his helmet. ‘You were stoned.’

Jim smiled. ‘If you think that now, wait until I finish my story.’ He paused to clear his throat. 'I began to walk south along the glacier. I did not know what to think. By the position of the sun I knew I had not walked to the other end

of the valley by mistake. I could pinpoint it as the clouds began to clear and the rain stopped. Then I really began to wonder what was going on. Devashan is a valley beside a glacier in the Himalayas. Yet it is not surrounded by towering peaks as you might imagine. The region stays between the elevations of nine thousand to eleven thousand feet. That’s high, of course, but not for the Himalayas. As the clouds blew away, however, I found myself surrounded by peaks of staggering grandeur. There were literally a dozen of them. What was even more surprising was that I didn’t recognize any of them from the maps I had studied. Yes, I know, I was hallucinating, but they were there nevertheless.

'I finally decided to climb a nearby peak to get my bearings. There was a low one not a half mile across the glacier from the valley. I trudged across the ice worrying about Panda and George. I knew they would think I had fallen and injured myself.

'As I worked my way up the side of the peak, I noticed that my watch had stopped. It was a good watch - the rain shouldn’t have affected it. Then I saw that it was getting dark. That threw me completely off balance. It had been eleven in the morning when I had left Panda and George and walked into the valley. At worst I figured it must be three or four in the afternoon. But you can’t argue with the sun. I spotted a cave and went inside, planning to spend the night there. Once again, I was not worried about myself. I have been lost many times in my travels, and have always managed to find my way home. The soil on the floor of the cave was soft. The temperature inside was pleasant. I regularly suffer from insomnia, but I curled up inside that cave and fell asleep in seconds.

'When I awoke it was morning. The sun shone directly into the mouth of the cave. I stood and stretched, and it was

then I noticed someone sitting further back in the cave. I hesitated to disturb him. I figured he was a yogi. He was sitting in the lotus position with his spine held perfectly erect. I had been warned in Gangotri never to interrupt a yogi when he was meditating. However, I didn’t want to just leave. I was completely lost. I had my canteen, but no food. I was hungry. I took a few steps toward the man.

'He must have heard me coming. I heard a soft intake of breath and saw his eyelashes blink. He glanced over at me. He was far enough back in the cave that the shadows were outdoing the morning sun, but I could see right away how handsome he was. He had long black hair and a long black beard. He appeared to be about twenty-five. Unlike most Indians, he was tall and well-muscled. His skin was also remarkably fair. In fact, I wondered if he was from India at all. Yet I was convinced he was a yogi, although I hadn’t spoken a word to him. The feeling that surrounded him was enchanting in its gentleness. He smiled at me and I felt welcome.

'I told him my name and apologized for disturbing his silence. His smile broadened at my words. He answered in a language I did not recognize. That was not a major surprise. India has so many different dialects, a man could go crazy trying to learn them all. I had spoken to him in Hindi, the most common language spoken in the Himalayas, and now I switched to Tamil. Again he answered me in the same peculiar tongue. I puzzled over the melodious nature of his speech. I know a great deal about languages, and his was unlike any I had ever heard before. It was almost as if he were singing a song to me.

'He sat and watched me for a bit, smiling faintly. He wore a dark blue robe. It was wrapped tight at his waist, but hung loose over his shoulders. His feet were bare and heavily callused. His eyes were as black as space. I must tell

you again how beautiful he was. Although I could not understand him, I still felt very much at home with him.

'Finally he rose to his feet. He pointed deeper into the cave, indicating we were to go that way. By chance I had a small flashlight in my back pocket. I took it out and showed him how it worked. He seemed amused. He stepped to a corner of the cave and emerged with two thick wooden sticks that were wrapped at the top with oily cloth. They were obviously torches, but as we walked deeper into the cave, he made no move to light them, relying instead upon my flashlight. You might ask why I started to follow him in the first place. I don’t know, I had no other place to go.

'The passage narrowed. It wound sharply and led us downward at a steep angle. The walls were covered with a fine dust. When I scraped it away I found a yellowish marble underneath. Several times we came to spots where we had to duck our heads to get by. Yet on the whole the way was comfortable. The yogi walked on my left, slightly before me. His stride was graceful, and he hardly seemed to breathe. He could have still been in meditation. I know, it’s strange - he was leading me far underground. Yet I trusted him. He was so peaceful, and his smile was so warm.

'We walked for over an hour, when I began to notice two things. First, my flashlight was slowly dying. Once more I was puzzled. I knew the batteries were fresh. Also, the temperature was increasing. I removed my jacket and tied the arms around my waist. Even though the yogi spoke to me from time to time, I made no progress in deciphering his language.

'I was in good shape at the time, preparing for this trip to Mars. Perhaps that was the reason why the further we walked and deeper we went, the fresher I felt.

'The flashlight continued to dim. I found myself bumping the walls. Finally the yogi stopped and held up his two torches. In one swift move he smashed the heads together. Immediately they caught fire and burned with a white light. Because of the color of the light, at first I suspected the torch heads were coated with a magnesium powder. I figured the chemical would soon burn away and leave us with ordinary orange flames. Such was not the case. The torches continued to burn white and bright. I was dumbfounded.

'He handed me a torch, and we continued to walk deeper. We could have walked for maybe two hours. The yogi maintained a brisk pace. More and more I began to sense an energy radiating from him. That is a poor choice of words, but it gives you an idea of how vibrant it felt to be in his presence. I also believe the place we were exploring had something to do with how I felt. The silence was uncanny. When we had traveled better than six miles, a quarter of that in the vertical direction, the air underwent a sharp rise in humidity. It got thicker, more satisfying. I smelled a very faint fragrance. It reminded me of camphor. Yes, camphor - the stuff parents rub on the chests of children when they have chest colds. It may very well have been camphor, for all I know.

'Abruptly the wall on our left vanished. One moment it was there, the next it was gone. A few feet later, the ceiling of the cave also disappeared. The yogi now took care that I stayed near the right wall. He didn’t want me falling off the edge. I was excited. We had obviously entered a vast underground space. Our torches continued to burn bright, but their light showed nothing beyond the edge of the path.

'My amazement continued to grow. We walked downward for a long time before a floor appeared. To your average geologist, such a large cavern would be considered almost an impossibility. I brushed aside the film of dust on the right wall and discovered the same marble-like

substance, only now it was laced with streaks of clear quartz crystal. The marble material was hard. I tried scratching it with a pocket knife I carried and failed.

[Abd]

'Finally our path leveled as we stepped onto a flat plain. I knelt and examined the ground. It was like a carpet of compressed blue grass, soft and springy.

'We headed away from the path, out over the plain. I must say something about how my perception of the yogi was changing. He still looked the same, naturally, but when I first met him, it was his gentleness that had impressed me. That quality remained, yet it was now overshadowed by a sense of high lineage. What I mean is, now he seemed like a king. Indeed, I felt as if he were taking me on a tour of his kingdom. I could tell he thought of the place as his own.

'After some time we came to a barrier of water. I couldn’t tell whether it was a lake or not. I don’t think it was a stream; it wasn’t flowing in either direction. With the yogi’s permission, I stopped and took a long drink. The water tasted faintly of the camphor I mentioned a moment ago. It was not unpleasant. The yogi indicated that we were to swim across. He removed his robe and I stripped down to my shorts. Standing tall in nothing but a loincloth, the yogi looked like a young Greek god. He took my torch as well as his own and waded into the water, holding the fires safely above the surface. He swam using the power of his legs alone, which you know is hard to do. I followed as best I could. The water was warm and clear, although I could not see the bottom.

Soon I felt ground underneath my feet. We climbed onto a silent shore. The yogi handed me my torch and we continued forward. At first the terrain was the same as before - perfectly flat. Then I began to notice shapes in the dark. They appeared to be nothing more than huge boulders. However, as I looked closer, I believed I saw subtle shapes. You might ask, did I see carvings or not? I tell you, I’m not sure. Being an archaeologist, I was tempted to think I had been led to the ruins of an ancient civilization. But the boulders might just have been boulders. I know that’s not a satisfactory answer, but it’s an honest one. Everywhere I found the same marble-like material I had seen in the cave, only now it was free of dust and it was whiter, and laced with greater amounts of quartz crystal. Yet, once again, I could not conclusively say I was examining anything that had been fashioned by human hand.

'Eventually we came to an oval pool of water. It was large and symmetrical. I forgot to mention earlier that while we were undressing to swim across the water, my companion indicated that I should bring my canteen. Standing at the edge of the oval pool, he took the canteen from me and emptied its contents on the ground. He submerged it in the pool until the canteen was full. Then he replaced the cap and handed it back to me. I made a move to drink from the pool, for I was thirsty again, but he stopped me and shook his head. I was surprised. I gathered from his gestures that I wasn’t to drink the water in my canteen, either.

'When he shook his head, it was the first specific gesture that showed he knew anything of modern culture. But upon reflection, I think he had learned the gesture in our short acquaintance. I had the impression he understood everything I said to him, but that he didn’t have the means to answer me. I guess it was the way he smiled at me.

'We walked around the pool. I was curious to know its depth, but when I reached down to feel for the bottom, he gently restrained me. I got the idea that the pool was sacred. I found the whole place fascinating, but my biggest surprise was yet to come.

'On the far side of the pool was a block of marble. It was flawlessly white and literally a perfect cube. Resting on top of it was a single silver ring. The yogi indicated I should pick it up.

'The ring’s appearance was remarkably ordinary. True, it was exquisitely polished, but its design was plain - a simple silver band. I placed it on my finger, half expecting something extraordinary to happen. We’ve all read fantasy stories about magical rings and the wonderful powers they give to those who possess them. I guess being where I was, I believed those stories could come true. Of course I felt no different with the ring on.

'But new understanding did come to me then. Constantly, while examining the strangely shaped stones, I looked for evidence of an ancient civilization. Now that I held the ring, I had such proof, although it was far from conclusive. The yogi could simply have put it on top of the marble block. He could have shaped the block for that matter. But in either case, I began to see the cavern in a new light, not as being incredibly old, but as being incredibly young, not yet born. Does that sound strange? I know it must. But in the square block I began to imagine a sculptured table, as if in the future it would be that way. I could see the boulders that lined the pool as being pillars in a grand palace. The springy turf we had been walking over would be blooming grass, even bushes and trees. I got quite carried away with myself.

'The yogi indicated that I should keep the ring. Then he pointed to the torches, which had finally begun to dim. He gestured in the direction we had come. I protested. I wanted to look further. But then I imagined what it would be like to explore the cavern without light. I agreed we should go back.

'There is little to say about our return journey. We

retraced our steps at a good pace. At what I estimated to be sea level, my flashlight began to work again. I imagined that in the place I had just visited, twenty-first-century technology didn’t operate. To this day I think of the cavern as belonging to a separate time, a different reality, with its own laws of nature.

"The sun was high in the sky when we arrived at the mouth of the cave. I had walked far, but felt little fatigue. In fact, I wasn’t even hungry anymore. The yogi pointed toward the valley of flowers. He indicated I should walk the length of it to get back to where I was supposed to be. He was such wonderful company - I did not want to leave. I asked if I could come back and visit him again. He shook his head and pointed at the sky. I know the gesture could have been interpreted in a number of ways, but at the time I had no doubt that he understood I was going to Mars. He hugged me, touching me briefly between the eyebrows, and then walked back into the cave. I never saw him again.

'In a dream I walked the length of the valley of flowers. It rained on me again, the storm coming out of nowhere. Eventually the scenery began to make sense and I found the stream where I had left Panda and George. But I did not find them, not until I reached Gangotri a couple of days later. They were much relieved to see I was all right. They said they had searched for me, and when they didn’t find me, they thought our paths had crossed and that I had returned to Gangotri ahead of them. They wanted to know where I had been all this time, but for some reason I didn’t tell them. I just said I had gotten lost. I did try to find the old sannyasi who had told me about Devashan, however. I thought I might tell him of my adventure. But he must have left town. Sannyasis are always wandering from one place to another.

'Panda and George had to return to their family and I let

them go. Despite what the yogi had said about my not seeing him again, I wanted to go back. I pored over maps in Gangotri. A lot of good it did me. I couldn’t find any of the peaks I had seen near the yogi’s cave. Still, I returned to Devashan and hiked up and down the valley three times looking for signs of the place. I looked and looked. If it had not been for the ring in my pocket, I might have believed I had imagined the whole episode. I guess it goes without saying that I didn’t find the cave. What was I to do? My vacation was almost up. I was going to Mars soon. I returned to the States, excited about what I had discovered, but also frustrated that its mystery had been left unsolved.

'Back in Houston I performed a number of tests on the ring. I tried to scratch it with a diamond and failed. I subjected it to an electron scan and found it to be a perfect circle, and I mean perfect. I dipped the ring in concentrated acids and got no reaction. By this time I knew it wasn’t silver or gold. Finally I put it under the laser they have at the University. I was scared to do it, but I also had a peculiar faith in the magic of the ring. I set the laser at full power and pushed the button. It didn’t do a thing to it. Let me impress upon you how extraordinary a fact that is. Nothing known to man could have withstood such a concentration of energy.

‘I’ve already commented on the ring’s shine. That shine never fades. I’ve never had to polish it. Occasionally the ring even appears to shine in the dark. But that may be merely my imagination.’

Jim paused once more. The sun was setting. The canyon beneath them was falling into long shadows. It was difficult for Jim to watch the sun going down and convince himself that it was the same sun that set on Earth.

‘Well, that’s my story,’ he said finally. 'I’ve talked for a

while. You’ve been good listeners. I suppose now you must have questions. I assure you, I won’t be offended if you don’t believe a thing I’ve said. Sometimes I wonder myself if it wasn’t just a dream. But then, you’ve seen the ring too, Lauren.’

‘Why did you give the ring to Jenny?’ Lauren asked.

‘I did it on the spur of the moment,’ Jim said. ‘I’ve always adored your sister. I thought she would like to have it.’

‘How many people have you told about this?’ Gary asked.

‘Only you two.’

‘Are you sure the laser was on high power?’ Gary asked.

‘Yes. Full power. It didn’t even heat the ring.’

‘That’s impossible,’ Gary said. ‘What could it have been made of?’

Jim shook his head. ‘Nothing known to man.’

‘What did you do with the canteen of water?’ Gary asked.

‘I took it home to the States in a sealed bottle. It’s in a box at my apartment in Houston. I never drank any of it.’

Lauren peered at him closely. ‘Why did you tell us this story?’ she asked. ‘Why did you tell us now?’

‘To prepare you,’ Jim said.

‘For what?’ Lauren asked.

Jim hesitated, unsure of how to explain himself. The reasons were unclear in his own mind. He wanted to give Lauren and Gary a sense for the supernormal, and open their minds to things they never considered. He knew they respected him; they seemed to believe his story, and had certainly been moved by it. But he knew he had to be careful about speaking directly. Gary was easily suggestible. Jim had watched him reading his books. Gary would be genuinely scared at the tense parts, would laugh at the humorous spots, and would grow angry at the villains. He

was remarkably innocent given his heavy responsibilities. He was also impulsive, and extremely protective of Lauren. Jim knew Gary would blow Bill’s head off if he told him everything he was thinking.

Lauren was different. She was the most intuitive woman Jim had ever met, sensitive to feelings in others few would have noticed. Her intelligence and resourcefulness were obvious to everyone. Yet she had a hard-headed side that categorized everything as either black or white. To say what he wanted, he needed to move through a sea of gray. He didn’t know how she would react.

‘Did you know that we’ve lost contact with the Nova?’ Jim asked.

‘Shit,’ Gary said. ‘Is it the generators?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Jim said.

‘What then?’ Lauren asked.

‘I’m not positive,’ Jim said, ‘but I have theories. That is why I told you my story, to make my theories more acceptable to you two. Where should I begin? You asked about this hole where the Russian ship is supposed to be. What do you think caused it, Gary?’

‘There must have been an explosion of some kind. But then there should be signs of wreckage, even with the snow here. It confuses me. Even if all their fuel exploded at once, it couldn’t have made this size hole. But I know that ship landed here. I’m sure of it.’

‘Do you have any theories, Lauren?’ Jim said.

‘No.’

‘I’ll tell you what happened,’ Jim said. ‘Coming to Mars, we knew there was always a chance we might catch an alien disease. Especially in light of how the Russians disappeared. Now an infection, as Lauren well knows, can be subtle. You can have a disease and not know it. In fact, you can have a disease that produces obvious symptoms and still not know that you’re sick. The disease could be such that it makes you incapable of thinking you’re ill. Am I right, Lauren?’

Her tone was cautious. ‘In rare cases, yes.’

‘The possibility existed when we set out for Mars that we could catch such a disease. How great the chances were, no one could say for sure. But look at what was at stake - the lives of five billion people. Every precaution had to be taken that we didn’t return to Earth with an infection. In the Soviet Union they followed similar reasoning. The Russian ships were equipped with devices that could completely destroy any infection.’

‘What devices?’ Lauren asked.

‘The Karamazov, the orbiting Gorbachev, and the lander we have been unable to locate, all carry or carried thermonuclear war heads.’

‘Jesus!’ Gary exclaimed. ‘That’s what made this hole. Wait a second. How do you know that the Russian ships have bombs aboard?’

‘I assume that they do,’ Jim said. ‘I’m certain I’m right. It explains this hole. And, you see, we have a similar warhead aboard the Hawk.’

‘What?’ Gary cried.

‘Tell me you’re kidding,’ Lauren said.

‘We have a warhead,’ Jim said. ‘Bill and I have known about it since before we left. If at any time we feel we have caught an unusual infection, we are to contact Houston. They will study the disease, as we will study it here. But even if our symptoms disappear, we are never to return home. We could be carriers. The danger would be too great.’

‘We’re just supposed to blow ourselves up?’ Lauren asked.

‘Yes,’ Jim said.

‘Why wouldn’t they just let us die here?’ Lauren asked. ‘Why the bomb?’

‘The bomb is there in the event that some of us want to return and some don’t,’ Jim said.

‘Where is it?’ Gary asked.

‘In the basement - in the garage. It’s well shielded. I don’t know exactly how powerful it is.’

‘Are you saying the Russians used their bomb,’ Lauren asked ‘and killed themselves intentionally?’

‘Yes,’ Jim said. ‘More specifically, I think Commander Dmitri Maximov detonated it. Only the top two ranks of our crew knew about the Hawk’s bomb. I imagine the Russians would have followed a similar procedure. Ivan was second in command. We know he didn’t trigger it.’

‘Why didn’t NASA tell me?’ Lauren asked. ‘I’m the doctor.’

‘You’re also the youngest,’ Jim said. ‘It’s very difficult to push a button that you know will kill you.’

‘I see,’ Lauren said. ‘So you feel Dmitri was convinced his crew was contaminated, and that he tried to stop the infection before it could spread to Earth?’

‘Yes,’ Jim said.

Gary sighed. He said it for all of them. ‘That means we probably have the same disease. And that we can never go home.’ There was a silence. The sun had set. Their own personal night was about to begin, Jim thought. It would be long. He spoke gently. ‘Not necessarily. Perhaps this infection is localized, and spreads only through a specific mechanism.’

‘There is something wrong with this whole theory,’ Lauren said. ‘How could Carl have caught the disease?’

‘Yeah,’ Gary said. 'And if Ivan was infected with this disease, and didn’t give a damn about the Earth, why didn’t he try to return in the KaramazovT

‘I will answer your question first, Gary,’ Jim said. ‘I think Dmitri sabotaged the Karamazov. That way he could lure all his crew to the other lander and blow them up. But Ivan must have been wary, and not fallen for the trap. That is my belief.’

‘But what about Carl?’ Lauren insisted. ‘He never came down here. He couldn’t have caught anything.’

‘Are you sure?’ Jim asked softly. The time had come to spill his heart.

‘There is no germ that can cross two hundred miles of empty space,’ Lauren said.

Jim sighed. He knew it would all sound so crazy. He had to ask himself if he hadn’t already caught something. ‘The disease that infects this planet isn’t physical,’ he said.

'Huh?'Gary said.

‘What do you mean?’ Lauren asked anxiously.

'Hear me patiently, and with an open mind. Tourists in Western Europe often comment on the difference in the air when they cross from one country to the next, even just at the border. You walk a few feet, and even if your eyes are closed, you still know you’re in a different country. People who travel report this all the time. But why? Is the reason psychological? That’s a catch-all phrase that says nothing. I believe it’s a perception of non-physical influences. These influences must exist. We don’t have to - we shouldn’t -delve into psychic phenomena to find them. They represent the most intimate aspects of our lives. We have hopes and dreams and thoughts. None of these could be located or explained by a physicist. There is an entire universe of forces we cannot perceive with our senses, or with any instrument man can build. Nevertheless, these forces exist, along with their effects. I have spent decades prowling through old ruins, and digging up the past. Often, sitting alone in those places late at night, I came to know the

people who once lived there; what they were like, whether they were a proud people, a happy people, or a miserable and vicious people. Life is a mysterious thing. It has a quality that doesn’t necessarily die when a people dies. Two miles beneath the Himalayas, I felt life. I felt goodness. Here there is another kind of power, a power that goes on and on, that never stops.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Lauren asked.

‘A power,’ Jim repeated, mostly to himself. ‘Death. This planet is dead. But it does not rest easily. It is envious of us. It’s trying to infect us.’ He stopped himself. He hadn’t meant to get so esoteric.

‘Are you talking about Ivan?’ Gary asked, confused.

Jim shook his head. ‘I doubt if he can be put back together. But he could never have lived here for two years. We all know that. Why don’t we face it?’

‘Face what?’ Lauren asked, sounding annoyed.

‘Oh shit,’ Gary said, burying his face in his hands. ‘My nightmares are bad enough as they are.’

Jim nodded. 'We’ve all been having nightmares. We don’t talk about them, though, and they never really scare us, not enough to drive us away. Quite the opposite. They add to the fascination of this planet. Many things do. Impressions in the sand that begin to look like footprints -if you look long enough. Canals that flow only underground, but canals that can still be seen from millions of miles away in a telescope if you look long enough. A cosmonaut who closes every window in his ship and then gouges out his eyes so that he won’t have to look at Mars, so he won’t have to see what Mars is doing to him. And what was Mars doing to him? It must have been something incredible, because when this same cosmonaut cut his throat, his blood didn’t freeze, not even after floating around in a gigantic icebox for two years. Then there is the

other cosmonaut who lives quite comfortably in an icebox for two years. But none of this makes you run away. You want to stay and investigate the mysteries. You’re curious, of course, and you’re also afraid if you don’t figure things out, then the danger will remain, and wait for another day, another time.’

‘Why don’t we get out of here, Jim?’ Gary asked suddenly, scared.

‘None of this makes any sense,’ Lauren protested. ‘You can’t get infected by something that doesn’t physically exist. How could you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jim said. ‘Yet.’

‘I’m not curious,’ Gary said. ‘Let someone else find out what’s happening. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.’

‘We can’t,’ Jim said.

‘Why not?’ Gary demanded. ‘I can have us ready to blast off in half an hour.’

Jim took a breath. ‘Because of Bill.’

‘Talk to him,’ Gary said. ‘Tell him we’re in danger of catching whatever the hell you’re talking about. He respects you. He’ll listen.’

‘No,’ Lauren said softly, deadly. ‘That’s not what you meant, is it, Jim? You’re saying Bill’s like Ivan.’

‘No,’ Jim said quickly.

‘Yes, you are!’ Lauren snapped. ‘You’ve just been leading up to the fact that you think he has to be killed. Well, it’s all bullshit. If anyone’s been infected, it’s you.’

‘Lauren,’ Jim said softly, ‘he was down there too long. His air should have run out. At best, I was hoping to find his body.’

‘You’re not sure!’ Lauren cried. ‘He could have had extra tanks.’

Gary shook his head at the ground. ‘Oh, shit. Oh, shit.’

‘I checked his supplies before he left,’ Jim said. 'I know

exactly how much air he brought with him. It was a lot, but not enough to be down there as long as he was.’

‘I don’t believe you!’ Lauren yelled.

"Then why are you so upset?’ Jim asked.

Lauren was on the verge of tears. ‘Because I love you, Jim. I trust you. I don’t want you saying things.’ She bowed her head and clenched her gloved hands. ‘I can’t rest here. When I sleep, I feel like I can’t breathe, like I’m smothering. I have these nightmares of something horrible climbing on top of me.’ She coughed. ‘He was trying to drag me into that water. He was so strong. No one that skinny could be so strong. And he just came out of the water. He was waiting in the water.’ She closed her eyes and her cheek twitched. ‘I keep asking myself how he could have been in that water. His suit wouldn’t have worked. It’s impossible. You know, I didn’t want to cut him in half, but he wouldn’t let go of me. Then, when I shot him, he was still grinning at me. He was dead and he was still grinning at me.’

Gary put his arm around Lauren. ‘No one’s going to get you again like that, Doc,’ he said. He looked at Jim. ‘You really think Bill’s like Ivan? If he is, he’s dead, and I’m sorry. We’re not taking any fucking zombie back home with us.’

‘No,’ Jim said. ‘Lauren’s right. We’re not sure about anything. My whole theory could be insane. How do I know I’m not sick? I’m sure Bill thinks he’s perfectly well. And he’s different from Ivan. I asked him about Jessie, and by the way he responded I could tell he still loves her. I doubt if the Ivan we met loved anybody.’ Jim stood and looked in the direction of Olympus Mons. 'We need more facts. Tomorrow Bill wants to show me the big secret under the ground. I’ll go with him. But I think I’ll insist that Jessie come along. There could be safety in her company. As a further safeguard, we’ll say the laser we brought with us

accidentally fell into the canyon and was lost. We’ll hide it near the Karamazov in case either of you need it. I’m also going to give you both the code to the warhead. It can be triggered through Friend. But I believe Bill has manipulated the computer’s programs. I think that’s why our communications are out. I fear they’re gone for good. But the bomb can be detonated manually. I’ll explain the details on the way back. I pray it doesn’t come to that. But you know one thing above all else: Earth must be protected.’

They walked back to Hummingbird in silence. But climbing into the hovercraft, Lauren spoke up. ‘Your cavern in India reminds me of the one Bill’s found.’

‘They are much alike,’ Jim agreed.

She suddenly gripped his arm. ‘I know why you told us that story,’ she said. ‘You think there’s a reason why you discovered that ring.’

Jim smiled. ‘Your sister always reminded me of Cinderella. Maybe the yogi wanted Jenny to finally receive her glass slipper.’

Lauren was not smiling. ‘Say it to me straight. What do you think’s going on here?’

Jim thought for a moment. ‘I said this infection is alien, but it reminds me of legends on Earth, of ghost stories.’ He paused. ‘I think this planet’s haunted.’

End of Chapter 22

[Abd]

TWENTY-THREE

The press room was crowded. Along with twenty other reporters, Terry Hayes waited for Dean Ramsey to make a statement on the fate of Project Nova. The public had heard nothing from Mars for two days, not since Colonel William Brent, Professor James Ranoth, and Dr Lauren Wagner had gone to inspect the Karamazov.

‘Here comes the asshole now,’ Tom Brenner, Terry’s partner, said in his ear. Flanked by two Air Force officers, Ramsey emerged from a pair of swinging doors at the side of the stage. Everybody stood. They were tense; the whole country was nervous. The word on the streets said that Mars had Martians after all, and that they weren’t friendly. Terry wasn’t sleeping well. Ramsey didn’t look as if he was, either.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Ramsey began gravely. ‘I’m sorry to keep you waiting. My statement is brief. We are no longer in contact with the Hawk.’ There was a hush. ‘We do not know yet the reason for the break in communications. We suspect a power loss due to a malfunction in their generators. It was such that caused the initial break. Questions?’

All the reporters spoke at once, except Terry. His partner had the loudest voice. ‘When did this difficulty start?’ Tom Brenner asked.

‘Mark Kawati - on board the Nova - was unsuccessful in raising them six hours ago,’ Ramsey said.

‘But we’ve had no direct report from the Hawk in two days,’ The Associated Press said.

‘The blanket of silence has been for reasons of national security,’ Ramsey said. ‘I cannot elaborate at this time.’

‘Did they inspect the Karamazov before the break?’ the Associated Press asked.

‘Yes,’ Ramsey said. ‘They found nothing. The ship was intact but empty.’

‘No bodies?’ CBS asked.

‘The Karamazov was empty,’ Ramsey said.

‘Why the blanket of silence?’ several people asked again.

‘For reasons of national security,’ Ramsey said. ‘I’m afraid I can’t be specific at this time.’

‘Is it true that the president is flying into Houston at this time?’ Tom Brenner asked.

‘No,’ Ramsey said.

‘There have been rumors that there was actually a survivor aboard the Karamazov,’’ Tom Brenner said.

‘Those rumors are absolutely false,’ Ramsey said.

‘How can you be sure the generators are responsible for the communication failure?’ the New York Times asked.

‘We suspect their generators,’ Ramsey said. ‘We’re not sure.’

‘Is the crew in any danger?’ the Associated Press asked.

‘No immediate danger,’ Ramsey said.

‘What does that mean?’ Tom Brenner asked.

‘The loss of communications will not prevent the crew from rendezvousing with the Nova,’ Ramsey said.

‘Why don’t they leave Mars now?’ Tom Brenner asked. ‘From your last statement, we understood that their water supply was destroyed.’

‘They’re continuing with their program of exploration,’ Ramsey said. ‘Their water supply isn’t critical yet.’

‘How do you know that, if you’ve lost communications?’ the New York Times asked.

‘We’ve only been out of contact for six hours,’ Ramsey said.

‘What was the crew doing at that time?’ CBS asked.

‘Resting. Sleeping.’

‘Six hours ago would have been in the middle of the afternoon in the Tharsis region,’ Tom Brenner said.

Ramsey hesitated. ‘They were up late the night before -exploring.’

‘They were exploring in the dark?’ Tom Brenner asked.

‘Because of their low supply of water,’ Ramsey said, ‘they’ve been trying to make the best use of their time.’

‘You just said their water supply wasn’t critical,’ Tom Brenner said. ‘Why were they exploring in the dark?’

‘They’ve had a change in program,’ Ramsey said.

‘There have been reports that they’ve caught an alien virus and gone insane,’ ABC said.

"Those reports are absolutely false,’ Ramsey said.

‘How could there be a threat to our national security, unless there were survivors aboard the Karamazov?’ Tom Brenner said.

‘There were no survivors,’ Ramsey said. He took a breath. He knew he’d come off badly. 'I’m sorry, that’s all the questions I can take at this time. When we re-establish contact, we’ll let you know. Now if you’ll excuse me.. .'He backed away from his microphone. Tom Brenner nudged Terry.

‘Ask about Lauren,’ Tom said.

‘He just said he doesn’t know anything,’ Terry said.

‘Do you believe him?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Ask,’ Tom insisted. ‘You’re her fiancé. He knows that. Quick!’

‘Hey, Dean!’ they called. He and Tom were in the second row, in the center. Ramsey heard him, the whole room did, and another hush swept across the crowd as Ramsey paused at the exit and turned.

‘Yes, Mr Hayes?’ he said without the benefit of his mike.

Terry tried to smile, and didn’t quite make it. ‘I was just wondering, you know, if Lauren is all right. I mean, I heard what you said, but she’s my fiancée and I’d really like to know. We could keep it off the record.’

Ramsey did not simply look as if he had been losing sleep with the rest of them. He looked as if he could have had a terminal disease - a tumor that swelled every time he told a lie. But Terry could see it hurt Ramsey even more to tell the truth. What the man did was tell him nothing at all.

‘When we re-establish contact, Terry,’ Ramsey said, ‘we’ll let you know.’

Ramsey left. The reporters began to disperse. Tom Brenner ushered Terry out of the press room and down a long hall that led seemingly nowhere. Tom talked a mile a minute.

‘Have you ever seen such an inept snow job? Here the whole world’s watching the greatest exploration in human history and NASA drops the curtain just when things get exciting. And that bullshit about national security. First the crew is dying of thirst, and now it’s “not critical.” Never mind that they’re sleeping in the middle of the day, because they’ve been out all night exploring. If you ask me, they’ve found a couple of Russians and they don’t know what to do with them.’ He paused. ‘Hey, Terry, I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to listen to my mouth at a time like this. I’m sure Lauren’s all right. NASA’s probably still in contact with the Hawk. They probably just concocted the whole story.’

‘Why would they do that?’ Terry asked.

‘Why did they go to Mars in the first place? Hell if I know. They probably just don’t want to upset how good things are going with the Russians. When you get right down to it, that’s all that matters to these people. Ramsey was lying through his teeth.’

Terry nodded. ‘I hope you’re right.’ He veered toward a door that would take him into the front lobby, where Kathy Johnson was waiting.

‘Hey, where are you going?’ Tom asked. ‘We’ve got to get a story into the office by ten. The boss dislikes our coverage as it is. You especially have to be careful, Terry. He still hates the fact that Lauren got engaged to you after she wouldn’t even go out with him.’

‘I need to tell a friend what Ramsey said,’ Terry said. ‘Tell the boss to go fuck himself if he complains about me.’

‘Yeah, I told him that for you yesterday. But you know he’s a Christian. He didn’t understood how he was supposed to do it.’ Tom regarded him closely. ‘You look like hell. Fuck the story. It’ll just depress the community if we write it. Why should they have to read shit like that? Go home and get some rest, Terry.’

‘Yeah, I might do that.’

Tom squeezed his arm. ‘Lauren will come home. I know it.’

Terry smiled faintly. ‘Thanks.’

They parted company and Terry went out and searched the lobby for Kathy. He couldn’t find her. Ramsey had been an hour late with his statement. He figured she might have gone to the cafeteria for coffee, and headed that way himself.

But waiting for an elevator to take him up to the

cafeteria, he thought of Jennifer, and a strong desire to talk to her swept over him. He missed her almost as much as Lauren; she was almost as hard to get hold of. He hurried to a phone booth and dialed the cabin. The blank screen dissolved and was filled with a blazing fire, a snow-lined window, a cozy living room, and the face of a beautiful young girl half hidden behind a wave of blond hair. Jennifer sat with her profile to the screen, her expression sad. She didn’t even look over to see who it was. He supposed she didn’t have to.

‘Hello, Terry,’ she said.

‘Jenny. How are you? We haven’t talked for a while.’

‘I’m fine. I sit by the fire.’

He felt an urge to take her in his arms and shield her from what was happening on Mars. Still, he felt she should know what was going on with her sister.

‘It must be cold there,’ he said. ‘That’s a big fire you’ve got going.’

‘It’s cold,’ she said.

‘Jenny,’ he began reluctantly. ‘I’ve got some bad news for you. It has to do with Lauren.’ Jennifer didn’t react. He continued, ‘NASA has lost contact with the Hawk. Now this happened before. Remember when they landed the second time? It may not be that serious. Personally, I don’t think it is. It’s probably just a minor power failure. Their generators have acted up before.’

Jennifer didn’t move or speak, or look his way. Terry could have understood a multitude of reactions, but not this. He wasn’t even sure she had heard him.

‘She should be all right,’ he went on. ‘They only lost contact six hours ago. Not that I really know what Lauren’s been doing the last two days. They started censoring her reports when she went to inspect the Russian ship.’

‘The Russians,’ Jennifer whispered. She raised her right

hand and fingered the ring Professor Ranoth had given her. It shone bright in the light of the fire.

‘Are you OK, Princess?’ Terry asked desperately.

Jennifer lowered her head. ‘I told her not to go,’ she said, closing her eyes. ‘What does it matter what I say?’

The conversation wasn’t doing a thing for Terry’s morale. ‘Are you still working on your story?’ he asked.

‘No.’

‘Are you taking a break?’

‘The story is finished. I came to the end.’

‘Great,’ Terry said. ‘I’m anxious to read it.’

‘I suppose you will.’

‘You know,’ Terry said, trying to sound enthusiastic, ‘Lauren will be on her way back soon. Once she’s up in the Nova, and asleep, I can take another week off. I’ll come see you. We can make a big snowman and blow its head off with Daniel’s rifle. We’ll be together soon. We’ll…’ He stopped. Tears were rolling over Jennifer’s cheeks. ‘Jenny?’

She shook her head slightly. ‘No.’

‘I’ll come. I promise. I’ll be there soon.’

She spoke to the wall of his cabin, in a whisper. ‘You always took good care of us. Lauren thinks about you a lot. She wants to come home.’

‘She will’ he said gently. ‘She’s fine. We’ll all be together soon. It’ll be like old times.’

Jennifer wiped at her tears and sighed. ‘Old times, lots of time.’ She held up the ring and admired it in the warm orange light. ‘I finished the story, but it’s getting cold, Terry. I think the fire’s going out.’ For the first time, she turned and stared at him, and although it was the most extraneous of thoughts, he couldn’t help marveling how clear and blue her eyes looked in that moment. They were so perfect they didn’t look human. ‘From the beginning,’

she said sadly, ‘it was my fault.’ She reached to cut the line. ‘Goodbye, Terry. I will remember you.’

‘Wait! Jenny?’

The screen went dead. Terry sat in the booth for a long time.

End of Chapter 23

[Abd]

TWENTY-FOUR

The darkness reeked of the stench of the ancient altar where the black priest cut out the heart of the living. Jim had been to such places before, in his travels on Earth, and now he was here again. He never really understood why there was always a new god that needed a sacrifice. It seemed a recurring pattern.

Would he be afraid when his turn came ?

The three of them stood in the perpetual night of the Martian deep. The top of the hill Bill had spoken of, at the center of the island, was flat; it came nowhere near the ceiling of the cavern. They had made excellent time on the journey underground. Hummingbird had swept them through the cave, past their anchored boat, and over the miles of icy water to the island. All to land here, Jim thought. Next to a hole in the ground that remained black even when a light was shone directly into i t.

The material of horror. A hole without a bott om.

Jessica herself had insisted on coming. There had been no need for Jim to press Bill on the matter. Unfortunately, Bill was now telling her she had to stay with Hummingbird. There are things down there, my dear, that can’t be touched except by an expert like our Professor. Jim was struck by the sincerity in Bill’s voice. Of course, that had been the problem good men faced whenever they wished to directly confront an evil; it usually had an associated virtue that made the good men hesitate. No, they would say, we cannot kill them. They are God’s creatures. Jim wondered if he hadn’t made a serious mistake. Courage was certainly not one of the devil’s virtues on this occasion. The laser Jim carried had been overloaded and had burned out the previous night, while it was supposed to be recharging. Friend’s broken circuits could have accidentally caused the damage, but who really believed t hat?

Not me. Not Bill. Probably not even Fr iend.

Jim was glad he had told Lauren and Gary to hide a laser near the Karamazov. He had done little else for them.

Jessica agreed at last to stay with Hummingbird. Bill told Jim that it was best they start down. Goodbye, Jessie, Jim said, keep an ey e open.

Jim followed Bill into the pit. The way was more of a drop than a slope, and Jim had to fight to keep his footing. The loose ground covered his boots like oily mud. It made him feel dirty. He knew one thing for sure. No angel walked by his side on this journey.

The outside temperature increased sharply. Even inside his suit, Jim felt the heat on his skin. A sober red light began to glow up ahead. A foul smell breathed inside his head. His thoughts were unpleasant. Fire and brimstone, and a place where the damned souls of a cursed people were sent when they were through tormenting the good guys. Except here they were never through. Yeah, he recognized the place. He had read enough stories about it.

At last Jim understood just what it meant to be on the planet Mars. He w as afraid.

On the threshold of an entrance into a place of burning pools, Bill paused and turned to Jim. Bill smiled, but the expression was a mere movement of the mouth, and did not touch his eyes. Jim could hardly bear to look at his eyes. There was not hing there.

‘Coming in?’ Bill asked.

They always i nvite you in.

Jim had led a full life, yet suddenly regrets rose up inside him. Three stood out sharply. He would have liked to laugh with Gary and Lauren again. He would have liked to feel an ocean breeze on his face one more time. And most of all, he would have loved a final talk with Jennifer Wagner. He had given the glass slipper to the right person, he was sure of that. But now he would never know whether the ring was magical or not. Only she could have told him.

‘Yes,’ Jim said. He stepped forward. He knew he wasn’t going to find his way home this time.

The snow crunched softly under Lauren’s feet as she strode across the bleak Martian plateau towards the Karamazov. The sky was a depressing sheet of clouds. A quarter mile more and she would reach the Russian lander. She was alone. Gary remained in the Hawk, trying to maintain the illusion with Bill that everything was cool. Lauren had spoken to Bill for only a moment this morning, and she knew things were not cool. He didn’t have Ivan’s wicked grin, but he had Ivan’s eyes, and that was bad enough.

She had only remembered Dmitri’s diary this morning, after the others had left. Gary had been furious with her.

‘Damn you, Doc, how could you hav e forgotten that?’

‘The second I found it, a corpse jumped me!’

’ Well, go g e t it.'

‘Now?’

‘Y e s.’

‘By myself?’

’ You’re the one who doesn’t think anything weird is going on. W hat are you afraid of’?'

A lot of things, Lauren thought. She checked her watch. They would have reached the island by now. God, Jim had better be all right. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to him. Last night she had talked Gary out of accompanying him. I love Jim, but you’d be the only one I’d have left. Big brave Dr Wagner was turning out t o be a coward, after all.

Lauren reached the "ladder that led to the door of the Karamazov. She had to stop to catch her breath. Her throat felt like an abandoned gold mine. Her lips were cracked, and she could taste her own blood. They had drunk the last of their water for breakfast this morning. Soon, they would have to fin d something else to drink.

But she knew they dare not touch the canal water, not without a complete analysis of the liquid. It was remarkable, since they had discovered the canal, they had not had a chance to perform even the most rudimentary of experiments on the water. She blamed that fucking Ivan -he had kept them dancing since he had first opened his frog eyes. But she was still kicking herself for not having returned with a water sample a fter they had rescued Bill.

Lauren climbed to the platform outside the airlock. Jim had left the outer seal open; there was no need for codes. She stepped inside and the door shut behind her. Soon she was in the Karamazov’s dark laboratory, holding tight to her flashlight. She saw a tall frozen beaker of blood. The Russian doctor must have been searching for evidence of infection. He had drawn an awful lot of blood, though, more than he c o uld possibly have needed.

Thirsty, Lori.

Lauren left the laboratory and took the ladder to the second floor. Black was still playing black on the chessboard. She stepped to the sleeping chamber where she had found Ivan. She reminded herself of what Jim had said about Ivan, that he was gone for good. Hurrying, she searched the floor for the diary and found it near Dmitri’s desk. She was anxious to leave, but the commander’s family photo made her stop. A tear came into her eye as she picked it up and stared at the happy faces. She made a promise to herself to write them as soon as she got home.

Then Lauren caught sight of a glass sitting on a small table by the bed where she had uncovered Ivan. It could have been a glass of water or juice that a man would keep by his bed in case he got thirsty during the night. Only this glass was full of red liquid. Lauren took a step closer, telling herself she was not seeing what was before her eyes. But she was a doctor, and it was hard to lie to herse lf about a glass full of blood.

Lauren felt sick to her stomach. She picked up the glass and then began to tremble. The temperature was below freezing, and the blood was still in liquid form.

It’s im possible. It’s blood, just blood.

Something must have been added to it to keep it from freezing. Or maybe all it had t a k e n was the touch of Ivan’s lips.

‘No,’ she moaned. ‘No.’

Dmitri’s family photo slipped from her hand and fell to the floor. The glass of blood landed on it a moment later, shattering the photo’s plate glass and splashing Dmitri’s children a gruesome red. Clasping the diary to her bosom, Lauren turned and fled. She had to get outside and into the light. She had to get to Jim and warn him he was r ight about the planet being haunted.

Lauren raced back to the Hawk with her radio off, afraid Bill might be listening. She waved to Gary in the control room as she approached the ship. A few minutes later she stood gasping in the airlock while the pressure equalized around her. Finally the green light above the entrance door flashed on. She stumbled into the basement and ripped off her helmet. Gary helped her from behind with her suit; she didn’t see his face at first. But when she did see it, she knew she was too late. A horrible weakness sagged her knees and she thought she would fall. But she spo ke anyway, as if there was hope left.

‘Gary, I found something in the Karamazov. It was horrible. We’ve got to get to Jim. What he suspects is true. It’s worse than true. We’ve got to tell him…’ She stopped. Gary’s expression was blank. She shook her head. ‘No, Gary?’

He leaned against the wall, the last bit of color drained fr om his face. ‘I’ve got bad news, Lori.’

‘Jim?’ she whispered. Tears fell from her cheeks, and she fell with them, although she never hit the floor.

‘Jessie called a few minutes ago,’ Gar ry said. ‘They’re bringing him back now.’

’ B ringing him back? What does that mean?'

What could it mean?

Gary rested his head on the airlock door . "They’re bringing back his body,’ he said.

Terry Hayes awoke with the alarm screaming in his ear. He had hated alarms ever since he was a child, when they jarred him back to a reality where he would have to get up and go to school where nothing of any interest ever happened. He groped for the clock, wanting to break it with his fist. But even when he whacked it onto the floor, it continued to yell. He sat up and opened his eyes. It was dark. He checked his clock - four in the morning. Then he realized it was the phone that had awakened him. Terry didn’t like four-in-the-morning calls. They were n ev er h appy ones . He picked it up reluctant l y .

‘Hello?’

‘Is this Terr y Hayes?’

His heart was thumpin g . ‘Yeah.’

‘Terry? This is Stephen Fl o yd.’

That was Daniel Floyd’s older brother.

'Is it Jenn y ? ’ Terry asked. 'Has something happened to Jenny ? '

A forever pause. ‘Yes,’ Stephen Floyd said.

’ H a s she been in an accident? Is she at the h o spital?'

‘Terry, I don’t know how to say this.’

‘She’s dead,’ Terry said, knowing he spoke the truth.

‘I’m sorry,’ Stephen Floyd said. ‘I’m very sorry.’

Terry closed his eyes. He thought of the phrase: the light of my life. It was such a fucking stupid line. Yet, as far as he was concerned, it had been true about Jennifer. Because now it was so da rk i n side his head he could have been th e one who was dead.

‘How did it happen?’ Terry asked.

‘There was a fire at your cabin. No, it was in the shed in the back of your cabin. Danny said she oft e n stayed there when yo u were visiting with your fiancée.’

‘Yeah,’ Terry said.

‘The police - they’re a bunch of fools - think it was deliberate . They say she started the fire on purpose and killed herself.’

‘I see.’ She had told him she was finished with her story. Goodbye, Terry. I will remember you. He wished he had kn own what she had been talking about. But at least he knew now.

Stephen Floyd’s voice was full of pain. ‘Danny kind of agrees with them. He says Jenny’s been blaming herself for what’s been happening to her sister. You know, the trouble Dr Wagner’s been having on Mar s , the lost contac t and all that. Are you still there, Terry?’

‘Yes. I’m here.’

‘That’s just what Danny says. Wh at does he know, huh? This must come as a terrible shock to you.’

‘N o. Wait. Yes, it is. Is D anny there? I’d like to t alk to him.’

‘He’s at the morgue.’

‘The morgue? Oh, yeah.’

Stephen Floyd spoke reluctantly. ‘There isn’t much left, but the police require a posit ive identification. I understand she has no family other than Dr Wagner?’

‘That’s true.’ Terry swallowed and tasted his tongue as if it were something foul in his mouth. It was slipping down the back of his throat, but that was OK. Maybe it would kill him. ‘I understand. I’ll come. Ther e’s a six o’clock flight we used to catch. I’ll come then, on that one.’ .

‘I can meet you at the airport. I’d li ke t o help in any way I can. I’d never known a child like Jennifer before.’

‘Thank you, Stephen. You’re very kind. I’m sorry, I ca n ’ t remember when the plane gets in. It seems to have sli ppe d my mind.’

‘Just get on the plane. I’ll be there when you arr i v e.’

‘Thanks. I’d better go. I’d b et ter pack. I have things to do.’

‘Take care of yourself,’ Stephen said.

‘Yeah.’ Terry hung up the phone and sat in the dark. He thought of calling Dr Palmer and telling him that the crisis hadn’t passed, after all. Instead he dialed Mission Control a nd as k e d them to page Tom Bre nn er. A minute later his partner came on the phone.

‘This is Tom Brenner?’

‘Tom. This is Terry. Any word from the Hawk?’

‘Sorry, buddy. But they’re all working on it here, a s I’m sure they’re work ing o n it on Mars. A r e you having trouble sleeping?’

‘Yeah,’ Terry whispered.

’ A re you OK?'

‘I’m fine. I’m always fine. Le t me know if you hear anything.’

‘You’ll be the first to hear. Catch you later.’

Terry put the phone down. There was no reason to cry, he told himself. He had been one of the lucky few who had known her. He was a lucky guy. He just needed to remember that, and he wouldn’t cry when they took him to the room to identify her remains. He would keep a straight fac e, because he knew if he broke just a tiny bit, he would break all the way, in half.

Under the harsh white light of her examination lamp, Dr Lauren Wagner poised a scalpel above the naked body that had once belonged to Professor James Ranoth, world-famous geologist and archaeologist, Nobel Prize winner, the greatest man who had ever lived, and friend. His body rested on a slightly inclined table. A hastily constructed drainage table waited for his blood at the end of the table. She told herself the autopsy was vital. She had t o kn ow how he had died, whether from dehydration, infection, violence, or something else.

She gripped the scalpel tightly and remembered her first semester in medical school - gross anatomy. It was odd how the memory pushed itself in now, after all these years. She had opened how many bodies since then? Five hundred? Maybe more? She was an experienced surgeon. The insides of both the living and the dead held no mystery to her. Yet how many of those hundreds had been friends? Not a one. The memor y wa s not really odd, after all. It was just horrible, as horrible as this fucking planet.

Gross anatomy was the class all medical students dreaded. The second-year students had given them advice on cadaver selection. Try to get a man, not a woman. Try to get someone thin. Most important , yo u don’t want someone who’s been dead too long. They’re hard to work with, those people.

The advice was a waste of time. None of her classmates got to choose. They were split into groups of four, and each group was assigned a table that held a covered body. The teacher told them to begin, but none of them wanted to peel away the mummy-like bandages that wrapped their cadavers. The amphitheater was warm; the cadavers smelled. The teacher told them they were smelling phenol, the preservative used to keep the cadaver from rotting. He didn’t tell them, however, that phenol was also an anesthetic. Later, when they were days into the dissection, when their fingers began to tingle and go numb, they all thought they’d caught a drea d di sease from the corpse. The teacher thought it was funny. He had a unique sense of humor.

Lauren’s group got an old man who looked as if he had been in a bad car accident back when Nixon was president. Lauren’s partners made her cut first. They were all men, and often made fun of her because she said she wanted to be an astronaut som e da y. They kidded her about how she would feel when it came time to dissect the man’s penis.

The teacher had told them to start on the legs, and she took the scalpel and cut from where the thigh met the body, all the way down to the knee. But she was too timid. She only scratched the old man. Her teacher came by and snapped the word cut in her ear, making her jump. Later they were to learn it wa s his favorite word. Cut, Dr Wagner. Don’t wor ry , he doesn’t feel a thing. They never do.

Is that true, Jim? I don’t want to hurt you.

Lauren was conducting the autopsy in the basement. She was alone. To the best of her knowledge, Bill was in the control room talking to Friend, Gary was in his bedroom plotting revenge, and Jessica was asleep on the couch in the living area, snoring. Jes sica had not taken Jim’s death well. She had gotten hysterical. Lauren had given her a shot.

Bill was probably still the monster Jim had spoken of. Lauren couldn’t look at his face without wanting to turn away in revulsion. It was as if invisible maggots crawled over his skin. Yet he was a puzzling monster. He appeared genuinely upset over what had happened. He said that Jim had died in his arms, and that his death was so senseless, so unnecessary. He seemed to know a thing or two more than he was letting on, but when they asked him e xactly h ow Jim died, he just shook his hea d a n d climbed up to the control room an d shut the door.

Lauren had to find her own answers.

She began to cut with the knife.

A cold grave. A hole through snow and ice. A gray sky hanging over a black and white world. The scene seemed appropriate to Terry. It was the vivid roses he held that were out of place. There were red ones and yellow ones and white ones - they were all too bright. He had never liked flowers, anyway. You bo ught them and you gave them to people and they just died. They were a waste of time, in his opinion.

It was sad how few had come to Jennifer’s funeral, Terry thought. There was Stephen Floyd and his wife, Jean. She was crying, clutching a bride’s missal in her gloved hands. Her husband was a good man. Stephen had taken him straight from the airport to the morgue, which was what Terry had wanted. Best to get it over with, he thought. The positive identification had been dealt with swiftly. Although she lay mostly in ashes, there was no doubt it was Jennifer. Remarkably, a handful of her long blond hair had survived the f lames, a lo ng with her right arm, a nd h e r right hand. He noticed she was still wearing her magic ring.

‘I’ll wear it always, Jim.’

Her face had been obliterated.

After the police had left the morgue, Stephen suggested that he make the arrangements for the burial. He asked when would be a good time. Today, Terry said. Soon. Why wait?

Two other people were also present, Mr Russo, the Italian restaurant owner who had fed Lauren and himself on their last date together, and his son, Michael. The boy hudd led in the cold beside his father, wearing the face of someone who would rather be watching football.

There was no priest or minister. Terry knew nothing about the local religious community, but he had inquired at a nearby Catholic church. They treated him beautifully. Was she baptized, Mr Hayes? You don’t think so? We’ve heard it was a suicide, Mr Hayes. That’s bad. But she was only a child, Father. Can’t you come? Wel l, it’s snowing and the Steelers are playing the Forty-Niners. We can pray for her soul if you’d like.

The priest hadn’t said exactly those things, of course, but he had come close enough to make Terry vow to burn down the priest’s church before he returned to Houston.

Terry looked up from his handful of bright flowers. Daniel was approaching from the direction of the trees, plodding through the virgin snow of the cemetery. He wore the scarf Jennifer had knitte d hi m for Christmas. His eyes were red but his face was comp osed . Th ey hugged beside t h e black casket.

‘Are you all right?’ Ter ry asked. It was a stupid question.

‘No,’ Daniel said.

‘Do you know why she did it?’ Terry asked.

[Abd]

Daniel turned and faced in the direction of the frozen lake, which was barely visible between the intervening trees. ‘Because of Lauren,’ he said.

‘What about Lauren?’ Terry asked.

Daniel shook his head. 'Jenny kept saying that something bad was going to happen to her sister, and that it was her fault. She said she was the only one who could stop it. '

‘By killing herself ?’

Daniel looked down at the coffin and trembled. ‘She never said she was going to kill herself. But she knew something. Lauren is having problems. Jenny knew they were coming. She got strange. She used to frighten me. She used to talk about fire all the time, how important it was. You saw, Terry, how she could wave her hand through the flames and they wou ldn ’ t bother her. Maybe she thought this fire wouldn’t burn her. Even when she poured gasoline over her head and …’

Daniel’s voice cracked and he began to sob. Terry hugged him again. ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Terry s aid.

‘I shouldn’t have let her be by herself at the cabin so much,’ Daniel wept.

'She liked to be alone. You couldn ‘t h av e stopped her.’

‘I’m going to mi ss h er. I don’t want to put her in this hole beside all these dead p eople.’

‘It doesn’t seem right,’ Terry agreed.

‘We should begin,’ Stephen Floyd broke i n gently.

T erry let go of Daniel and nodded. ‘Fine. What do we do? I’ve never buried anyone before. The priest said he could n’t come.’

‘We don’t need a priest,’ Stephen said firmly. He took the prayer book from his wife. ‘We got married in a Catholic Chur ch. W e couldn’t find a Bible around ourhouse, but Jean h as her bride’s missal. In it are prayers you can read at a funeral.’

‘She was the sweetest girl,’ Jean sai d nervously.

‘People often do this,’ Stephen continued. ‘They read praye rs a nd talk about the one who’s died. It’s fitting and dignified. We don’t need strangers here. We’re the ones wh o loved her.’

Deliver Jennifer, O Lord, from eternal deat h in that awful day. When the heavens and the Earth shall be shaken. When Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Amen.

The little book went around the small circle. Michael Russo was the only one who chose not to read a prayer, but his father recited from the missal and then added a personal prayer of his own for Lauren’s safe return. The ceremony lasted a grand total of twenty minutes. It was long enough for Terry’s tastes. He asked Stephen if he could remove the ring from Jennifer’s finger. He wanted to save it for Lauren . Ste p hen had to open the coffin, bu t he got it quickly. That done, Terry knelt and kissed the coffin and left hi s roses on top.

Goodbye. I wi ll remember you.

Stephen offered to stay and take care of the details. The rest of the group accompanied Terry down the snow-clogged path that led out of the cemetery. They had reached the cars when Mr Rus so s aid to his son, as if by way of apology to the rest of them, 'You didn’t know her, Mike. Is that why you didn ‘t say a prayer?’

The boy was disinterested. 'I don 't k now. I didn’t want to say one 'cause she didn’t die naturally. ‘Cause she killed herself. That’s a stupid thi ng to do, I know.’

In a blinding movement Daniel grabbed Michael by the collar and hois t ed the plump boy six inches off the ground. ‘Don’t you ever say anything bad about her,’ he hissed. ‘Not if you want to live.’

‘Danny!’ Terry cried. ’ Let him go.’ Mr Russo, however, made no move to protect his son.

‘That was a heartless thing to say, Mik e,’ Mr Russo snapped.

Michael looked appr opri ately chastised, and afraid. Daniel still had a good grip on him. All of a sudden, though, he loosened his ho ld and shook his head.

‘I’m sorry,’ Dann y sa id. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. You didn’t know her, but she couldn’t bear people hurting each other. It’s w hat made her so great.’

The incident passed. Minutes later Terry bid the group farewell. He declined Jean’s and Mr Russo’s offers of a ride to his cabin. He was lost, but he felt that a long walk in th e sno w might take him somewhere. He couldn’t go to the cabin right away. The thought of going home without either of them was unbearable.

‘What are we supposed to do?’ Lauren asked. ‘I’ve nev er buried anyone before.’

‘We can read parts from the Bible,’ Jessica said, her voice as smooth as the ten cc’s of Valiu m in her, bloodstream. ‘I’ve got my Mo m’s Bible. She used to read it at lots of funerals. We’ll pray togethe r. The Lord will hear us.’

‘I hope he does,’ Lauren muttered.

Another beautiful bloody sunset spread around them. Only a day ago, as Mars counted time, they had sat and chatted with Jim. Good conversation on Thursday, dissection on Friday. The autopsy said that he had died of a heart attack. A fine doctor she had turned out to be. But what exactly had brought on the attack? Mitral valve prolapse never led to cardiac arrest, not that she knew of. She was at a complete loss, and Gary and Bill were both asking her f or her professional opinion.

Gary climbed out of the grave he had just finished digging and stood next to the dark green plastic bag t hat held Jim’s body. Gary glanced at Bill, w ho waited inside his suit, stone-faced, at the top of the hole, his back to the setting sun.

‘Why don’t you begin, Jessie,’ Bill said.

His wife opened the book and - her gloved hands turning the pages with great difficulty - settled on a sele ct ion. ‘This is one of the Psalms,’ she said. ‘I think Jim would like it.’ She cleared her throat. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my s oul . He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the sh adow of death, I fear no evil…”'

She finished the Psalm, and added, ‘We’ll miss you, Jim.’

Jessica handed the open book to Lauren. The pages were yellowed with years. It was ironic, Lauren thought. Gary was trying to convince her there was a devil loose on the planet, and maybe he was right. But she didn’t believe there was a God here. If he did exist, h e cou l dn’t have anything to do with Mars. Sh e knew there was no one to hear their prayers. Shaking her head silen tly, Lauren gave the book to Gary.

But I did love you, Jim. I always will.

Gary thumbed through the pages angrily, but couldn’t find what he was looking for. He slammed the Bible shut. ‘I’ll say my own prayer.’ He addressed the red heavens. ‘If you’re there, God, and you do care about us, please watch over Jim’s soul. I believed in him. I think he helped me believe in you. He was the best of us all.’ Gary spoke quietly to the plastic bag a t his feet. ‘He was my best friend.’

There followed an empty silence. It was always a one sided conversation when you tal ked to God. Gary thrust out the Bible to Bill. ‘Here,’ he said bitterly. ‘You’re our commander. You’re the on e who should be saying these things.’

Bill took the book without any sign of emotion. He spoke to the rectangular hole in the ground. ‘Our loss is great. Jim was rare among men. All his life he accomplished what he set out to do. He let nothing stand in his way. He was brilliant, he was kind, but above all else, he was courageous. We can take a lesson from the example he set, to perform our duty without hesitation, and let nothing stop us. Our t h irst is gr eat but soon it will pass. We will complete our explorations and leave this world. Tomorrow Jessi e will accom pany me under the ground.’

Jessie.

The last rays of the sun licked their commander’s back. A gust of wind came up and sprayed snow in the air; it settled on their faceplates like dirt thrown in their faces. Bill searched the Bible. ‘But for now we must say goodbye to our friend,’ he said. ‘I would li ke to say the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in heaven…”’

I will show thee the condemnation of the great harlot, Lori, who sits upo n ma ny waters. With whom the Kings of Earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth were mad e drunk with the wine of her immortality.

Lauren did not recognize the voice in her head. It was not the voice of her own thoughts, nor was it Bill’s voice. Yet it flowed in rhythm with Bill’s words and i t seemed to express a part of him that was still hidden, but a part which was becoming clearer with each passi ng second, a s the light steadily faded.

“'Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespas se s, as we fo rgive those who trespass against us, and…”'

And I saw Lori drunk w i th the blood of saints an d with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus…

’ “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,”’ Bill said. ‘“Amen.”’

Amen. And fuck you, sweet Lori.

Lauren was having difficulty breathing. Her lungs felt as if they were filled with burning ash. Yet there was a cold spreading inside her, too, like frost g rowing on a cracked window in an empty house. Th e sun had set. Bill closed the Bibl e and stared at her. T he ceremony was over. She was glad it was over.

‘That was very nice,’ Gary said sa rcastically.

‘Yeah,’ Jessica agreed blankly.

B ill no dd ed, still watching Lauren. Fina lly he spoke, ‘It’s late. We have shown our respects. You will bury the body, Gary . The rest of us will return to the ship.’

‘I’d like to stay,’ Lauren said.

‘Fine,’ Bill said, 'Let ‘s go, Jessie. We have much to accomplish tomorrow.’

As they turned and walked toward the Hawk, Gary reached for the laser he had earlier lain beneath Jim’s body. In seconds he had released the safety and leveled the rifle at Bill’s back. Lau ren closed her eyes, and heard Gary pull the trigger.

But no devastating beam of energy spurted forth. Lauren opened her eyes and found a shocked Gary examining t he laser . Bill had turned and watched him patiently . Jes sica st ood to Bill’s left, to the left of the ozone, not und erstand in g that anything unusual had just happened .

‘Is s omething the matter, Gary?’ Bill asked .

'No. '

‘Something I can help you with ?’

‘No,’ Gary sa id.

‘Good,’ Bill said, taking his wife’s hand a nd turn ing away again. ‘You need n ot bury him de ep.’

Je ssica and Bill di sappeared inside the Hawk. Lauren stepp ed to Gary’s side. He had thr own the laser to the gr ound .

‘You missed ,’ s he said.

‘The laser’s b roken.’

‘Obv iously.’

Gary knelt and took hold of Jim’s legs. ‘I didn’t pa rticularl y like Bil l’s last remark,’ he said. ‘Give m e a han d, Lori.’

‘OK.’

‘We have a deep hole here,’ G ary said. ‘He’ll rest peaceful ly. Nothing will di st urb him.’

Lauren nodded, and took hold of the shou l ders.

‘We don’t have to worry a bout Jim,’ Gary said. ‘I know we don’t have to worr y about him.’

‘Yeah ,’ Lauren said. Still holding his legs, Gary jumped i nto the grave.

‘The bastard overloaded the las er,’ he said. ‘He’s the one we have to worry a bout.’ Gary quickly slipped Jim’s body into the ice-rimmed hole, setting i t down gently, and then climbed out. He be gan to scan the ar ea.

‘What are you looking for?’ she asked.

‘Jim won’t hurt us,’ he said fo r what seemed the tenth time. ‘B ut I think we should get a big rock.’

‘What f or?’ Lauren asked.

‘It’s good to be careful. I’m looking for a boulder that we c an roll over the grave.’ He got angry when she shook her head as if he was crazy. ‘Just help me, goddamnit! We do n’ t know what’s going on here.’ He turned away. ‘We d on’t know nothing.’

The steps echoed from the control room to the bedroom where Lauren lay staring a t the ceiling. According to the engineers who had built the Hawk, it was impossible to hear footsteps from one de ck to the next. Lauren figured Bill must have gained two thousand pounds.

Jessica was asleep on the other bed, her system fortified for a long excursion in dreamland with two grams of phenobarbital. L au ren had contemplated taking a pill herself, but only for a tenth of a second. In her right hand, under the covers , she held the razor-sharp scalpel she had used durin g the autopsy on Jim.

The door opened. Lauren jumped, but it was only Gary. He sat at her feet, and the bedr oom door shut automatically beh i nd him. He wore a pair of red shorts and nothing else. His muscles looked remarkably t a n and supple considering tha t he hadn’t exercised i n the sun in months.

’ Can’t sleep?’ he asked.

‘That’s a stupid question.’ She sat up against t he wall and tuc k ed her bent kn ees under her T-shirt. Her bare b re asts touched her thighs.

‘Will I wake Jess ie t alking?’ Gary asked.

‘She’ ll stay asleep,’ Lau ren said sarcastica lly.

‘She suspects nothing?’

'N ot even that you tried to shoot her husband in th e back a couple of hours ag o. '

Gar y t ightened his fists. ‘Are you glad I failed?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Well, listen to this. The other lasers ar e overloaded, too. Coincidence? Thank God we stil l have the one at the Karamazov.’

Lauren coughed with a dry throat. She was beginning to believe she would give her life for a glass of water. ‘I was just thinking of Jim,’ she said. ‘How wise he was. H ow much he saw that none of us could see. He never tried to do what you did tod a y.’

Gary was hurt. ‘I know I’m not Jim. But the si tuation was different ye st erday. He had a theory. He was tr y ing to gather information. He didn’t have the pr oof we h ave. No one was dead the n .’

"The autopsy sh owed it wa s his heart,’ Lauren said.

'You believe that? '

Lauren sniffed. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I remember once when Jim and I were sitting alone together in his room in the isolation complex,’ Gary said. ‘A moth began to buzz around his lamp, and I started to swat it, but he stopped me. He said to open the window and let it out. Sure, I thought. We were in quarantine. Those windows couldn’t be opened without taking out a half dozen screws. But you know what he did when I told h im that? He went to the kitchen and got a knife and undid the entire window. Just to save a moth’s life.’ Gary shoo k his head. ‘I don’t think Jim could have shot a ra ttlesnake if it was ready to bite him.’

‘He was very brave,’ Lauren said, thinking that Bill had said the same thing. She noticed that Gary had a new book with him. It made h er ma d. 'Oh, and I see you’ve got fres h reading material. I don’t know wher e you find the time, what with all the funerals w e’ve be en having lately. What is i t this tim e? The In vasion o f th e Body Snatch ers?

Gary held up the book. Dr acula.

‘What are you reading , Jenny?’

‘Nothi ng . Just something I found at the library.’

‘A nd it’s a secret?’

‘It’s a love story.’

Lauren felt miserably depressed. Nothing was sacred anymore. Not even young girls with golden hair and blue eyes. ‘I did n’ t know you had a copy, too,’ she said.

That startled Gary. ‘Too? Does Bill have this book?’

‘No. Jenny was reading Dracula before I left. She was really into it, but I burned it before she c ould finish it.’ Anger rose inside Lauren. ‘I burned it bec ause it’s garbage. How can a story help us now? You and y our Martian Chronicles and your lost expeditions. You hear t ho se footsteps? He’s right above us!’

I said i t. I confessed m y faith. Am I a be l iever now?

Gary nodded gravely. ‘You’re right, I know these stories are bullshit. But what abo u t the stuff that i nspired the au th ors to write the stories? Some of that s tuff could be true.’

‘What stuff?’

‘Jim mentioned ghost stories . I’ve read some fairly reliable cases abo ut peop le who’ve drunk blood and had supernormal s trength.’

‘In the Enquirer?’ Lauren asked dryly.

'No. In sensible b ook s written by sensible people. Get off your high hor se and open your mind. Weird stuff is going on around us left and right. We can’t just close our eyes and say we ‘re astronauts and NASA will take care of everythin g .’

‘You can’t possibly be talking about va m pires?’

Gary paused. He blinked. ‘I think I am.’

Lauren chuckled. 'B ill can stand the sun. '

Gary leaned forward, intense. ‘I don’t think he likes it. At the funeral, he kept his back to i t. Plus we’re on Mars. The sun’s a lot brighter on Earth.’

‘There are no vampires on Earth.’

‘What about on Mars?’

She gestured to his book. ‘That story was written on Earth. You’ve got a gap of millions of miles to account for be fore you start making sense. And you’re not going to make sense as lo ng as you keep talking about vampires.’

‘Call them what you want,’ Gary snapped. ‘AH right, they’re not vampir es , but they’re like vampires. Let’s call them Mart ians. How do we kill these Martians? That’s all I care about.’

‘I do n’t think that book’s going to give you any ideas.’ ‘There’s a pattern here. How can you deny it?’ ‘What pattern? D ra cula was a count who lived in Transylvania. Bram Stoker was a writer who lived in Ireland. We’re on Mars, Gary!’

‘You said that already. What about the blood beside Ivan’s bed? What about his abnormal strength?’ ‘I never actually saw Ivan drinking the blood.’ ‘He would have chewed on your neck had you given him half a chance,’ Gary said. He sat for a moment. ‘Perhaps something in the distant past inspired these legends. I’m reminded of Jim’s cavern under the Himalayas. We may not be the first civilization on our world capable of space flight. There could have been a people here, too. There could ha ve been an interaction between us and them, and they could have been real nasty bloodsuckers. The stories we’re talki ng about could have arisen from then. Quit laughing ! Lots of myths have been found to be based on historical fact.’

‘You have been reading the Enquirer.’ She waved him away with her hand, tas ting the salt that crusted her lips. ‘I’m tired of arguing about this. If you’ve got garlic, I’ll be glad to keep it by m y bed.’ ‘I don’t have any,’ Ga ry said seriously. She spoke w earily. ‘What else does your monster bible suggest?’

Gary studied the novel. ‘Most of this you’ll know from TV. F i rst Dr Van Hel sing prescribes driving a stake through the heart of th e vampire.’

‘Bill won’ t go for that.'

‘Or driving the vampire off with a communion wafer or holy water.’

‘We should have brought a priest with us.’

‘Or using a cross. Jesus, Lor i, we can make a cross. Listen to me! Ou r souls are in danger.’

‘A cross is just a symbol. Doesn’t V an Helsing sa y that as well? If I remember correctl y , he was big on faith. A cross won’t work for u s. Neither of us i s a Christian.’

Gary protested, ‘I was bapti zed.’

‘So was I. Who gives a fuck? I’m sure Martian Bill doesn ’ t.’

‘I believe in God,’ Gary said. ‘How else can you explain people like Jim? He went down there, knowing the d an ger. He died tr y ing to save us.’ Gary paused, a nd asked in a worried voice, ‘You don’t think he’s going to rise, do you?’

She s mi led painfully. ‘No, I cut out his heart i n the autopsy. It’s in a bottle in the basement. Even a vampire needs his heart.’

Gar y c onsidered. ‘You may ha v e a point about traditional symbols failing us. T here was a cross on the cover of Jessie’s Bible a nd Bill didn’t bat an eye.’

‘Oh, that was a great p u n. Thank you . Thank you very much. That’s j ust what I needed.’

‘Shut up,’ Gary said. ’ There may be a weapon vampir es and Mart i ans ca n’t withstand. One that d oes n’t have any thing to do with belief or disbe lief.'

‘What?’ Lauren aske d.

‘Fire.’

I see you brought the fire.

There was a ring of truth to what Gary was saying. In fact it r ang perfectly well with th e voices in her head. She didn’t know whether that was good or bad, yet his remark made her heart race.

‘I’m all i n fa vor of getting the other laser,’ she said. 'If we g et the chance. But you know we can’t use it against Bill inside the sh i p.

Gary nodded. ‘That’s two problems right th ere. But I have a plan. Bill said he wanted to take J essie with him tomorrow.’

‘He mi ght take us all,’ Lauren int errupted.

‘I think he can only handle one at a time. Don’t ask me why. He seems to h ave lost his inhibitions about his wife.’

'W it h his super strength, he could kill us all. '

‘So you do be l ieve he’s strong?’

‘I just don’t want to get in a fight with him.’

‘He doesn’t want to kill us,’ Gary sai d.

‘Oh, yeah? He needs to fill out his v a mpi re family. Why doesn’t he destroy the other laser? Surely he suspects we didn’t lose it.’

‘He knows if he le a ves the ship, I’ll take off. He’s clever. He d oe sn’t go outside without taking insurance with him. But this time he’s not going to cash in.’

‘What are you going to do?’ Lauren asked.

‘This planet murdered my best friend. I t’s go ing to pay. It’s go ing to burn. Fire’s got to kill these bastards, and their heart has to be down in that pit where Bil l wants everyone to go . We have a nuclear bomb in the basem e nt. I’m go ing to drag it down t here and set it off and flush the devils out.’

’ You ‘d be killed.’

‘No. When Jim ga ve us the code, he said t he warhead cou ld be triggered manually, and tha t it ha d a timer in it.’

‘Bill will stop you,’ Laur en said.

‘He isn’t going to be here.’

'You ca n’t set it while he’s gone with Jessie. '

‘I don’t intend to. I’m going to take the bomb down t her e after he returns with Jessie. We’ll retrieve the lase r from th e Karamazov, and th e n I’ll wait outsi de the Hawk a nd greet both of them with the hole in the chest .’

‘You’d kill her?’ Lauren gasped.

‘She’ll already be dead.’

‘I won’t let you do that.’

‘Then he’ll take us one by one! Don’t you see, he hits us where we’re weakest. Jim knew the danger, but he hesitated because he couldn’t conceive of killing a friend. But if we don’t kill them th en one of us will be ta ken down there, and then the other. We’ll both be turned into Ivan clones. We’ll return home and look just fine to everybody el se. Exce pt at n ight we’ll go out and suck on people’s throats until the wh ole goddamn world is one walking corpse.’

‘Stop it!’ Lauren cried

‘No! Think of the cons equences. You don’t n eed to kill them . I’ll do it.’

Lauren lo o ked away. "There must be another w ay.’

‘Ther e isn’t.’

‘We should get Jessie off drugs, tell her what’s go ing on.’

Gary snickered. ‘Righ t . We’ll t e ll her we have to blow away her hus band. Maybe we can get her to hold him still for the shot. Give me a break.’

Lauren had an idea. ‘The boat.’

‘Huh?’

[Abd]

'The boat we made out of the jeep. Hummingbird isn’t the only way to the island. You remember? Jim insi sted we tow i t back and an chor i t on the canal beneath the end of the cave. There’s another way, Gary. We ‘ll let them go tomorrow, an d then we’ll retr i eve the las er and follow t hem.’

‘We’d b e hours behind,’ Gary sa i d. ‘We’d be too lat e. Jessie won’t be able to hold out.’

'Jim did. '

‘Jim’s dead .’

‘We have to try,’ Lauren said. ‘W e have to give her that chanc e.’

‘No. By t he time we reached the island, there’d be two monsters. They’d cree p up on us in the dark. We wouldn’t come back hum an.’

Lauren got up and stepped to Jessica’s bed. She fixed the blankets about Jessica’s shoulders. Jessica slep t on.

’ Is her one life less p recious than ten lives?’ Lauren asked, looking down at her friend’s face. ‘Than a hundred? What w ould Jim have said?’ L a uren stroked Jessica’s hand. ‘We’ve lost Jim , we’ve lost Bill. And now we’re sending her down there ignorant. We’ve got to give her a cha nce .’

‘I don’t li ke it.’

Lauren came back and sat on the bed beside hi m. She spoke firmly. ‘We’ll take the boat . We’ll do the best we can. A t least we will have tried.’

Gary sighe d. ‘OK, Doc. But I’m going alone. I have enough on my conscience already, the way I let Jim die.’

‘We’re going together.’

‘No way. It’s me alone. That’s an order.’

‘I don’t give a shit about your orders. I have t o go.’ She g lanc ed at the ceiling, in the dire ction of the heavy footsteps. ‘If you come back like him, I’d j ust as soon die. Besides, i t will take two to paddl e the boat.’

Gary put a strong arm around her. ‘I can never win an argument with you.’ He added, ‘I hope the war head doesn’t si nk the boat.’

‘Don’t take it. It will just slow us down. The next expedition can incinerate the place.’

‘If I have my way, there won’t be a next expedition. This planet’s going to pay now. It’s going to burn.’

Lauren felt tears in her eyes. ‘God,’ s he whisper ed .

‘Lori?’

‘I was just thinking how we’ll be leaving Jim here.’ The grief broke inside her at last and she began to sob against his chest. ‘Remember the time I di s covered his cookies, Gary? I think he was eating them while we were fasting at the isolation complex. He liked sweets. He liked coffee, too, and I wouldn’t even make it for him.’

Gary spoke softly. ‘But you did make it f or him. It was wonderful coffee. He loved i t. He loved you.’

She wiped at her face. ‘I’m going to miss him so much.’ She put her arms around him. ‘Hold me, Ga ry. Please hold me.’

They stayed in each other’s arms as the night slowly passed. But Lauren didn’t sleep. She didn’t have to. Her nightmare was finally awake. She lay beside Gary with her scalpel in her hand until the sun came up, listening to th e footsteps overhead.

At the charred remains of Jennifer’s private cabin, Terry Hayes knelt and collected wood for his fireplace. It was dark and snowing, and he was cold. He thought it would not be long before the snow covered the ashes left over from the fire, as it had probably already covered Je nn ifer’s freshly dug grave. From identifying her remains, he knew ashes of her body must lie scattered in the wood as he s all around him. He had changed his mind about flowers. He decided that later he would bring some here and plant them. In another season, when it was warm, he thou ght t hey might bloom.

Terry bundled his wood together and walked to his cabin. It was pitch black inside but he made no effort to find the lig ht switch. He went immediately to the fireplace and arranged the singed scraps he had gathered. There was a lighter o n top of the br icks, and soon the chill was me lting from his limbs before a crackling fire. It was then he saw Jennifer’s new typewriter on the floor, and the stack of papers bes ide i t.

Her story.

The pages were divided into two sections. The first sheets were in a graceful flowing penmanship. Not a word was crossed out or a letter smudged. The second section was neatly typed. She must have finished it sitting where he was now, he thought, working late at night and using the flames for l ight. It would have been her way.

Terry took the silver ring from his pocket and set it on the bricks next to th e fire . He began to read.

In the Garden, on the edge of the vast ocean, and the borders of the tall m ountains, lived the people of the Sastra, the first and greatest of human beings. Because they were from the beginn in g, they were untarnished, beautiful and wise, o f fair form and kind desire. Their King was Rankar, mightiest of the Sastra, and their Queen, Chaneen, loveliest of t he off spring of the gods…"

End of Chapter 24

[Abd]

BOOK FOUR

The Curse

TWENTY-FIVE

Excerpts from Jennifer Wagner’s Story

Janier awoke from a dark dream to find herself being carried under the surface of Asure. Her hands were bound at her back with metal cords. Hellish faces grinned at her from the shadows. In her first few moments of consciousness, she struggled violently. But they laughed at her and tightened their claws into her skin and she began to bleed. Thinking to conserve her strength, she decided to remain still. She could feel her sword banging against her leg. She did not understand why they let her keep it, unless it was because they feared her so little.

Janier remembered with guilt her crossing into Asure. With her warriors by her side, she had emerged upon an icy black plain. There she 'd immediately had a change of heart. The enemy was much stronger when it was dark, and seeing the conditions, she attempted to retreat to the desert. Unfortunately, the bridge was gone, and it was then she knew she had been tricked. From seemingly nowhere a rain of poisonous darts fell upon her warriors. She tried invoking the fire, but the Messenger had left her arm, and nothing happened. Her entire company of warriors perished in agony. She was the only one the enemy spared. She did not know why. They had bound her limbs and choked the air from her lungs until she fainted.

If only she had listened to Chaneen.

Thinking of her sister, under the dripping teeth and suffocating

breath of her assailants, Janier lost consciousness again.

She awoke with a slap in the face. Dizzy and bloody, she rolled on her side and opened her eyes. She was in a vast underground chamber. Pools of lava boiled on her left. They filled the air with a depressing red glow and afoul stench. She tried to stand, but her hands and feet were still bound. She fell forward on hard black stone and banged her head. A throng of watching female Asurians jeered. They sat on rows upon rows of bleachers, that curved upwards and were lost in the dark. They were hideous, with wide snouts, large teeth, scaly hides, and red eyes that shone with excitement.

Amidst the shouts, Janier heard a deep chuckle. It was the Asurian King, Kratine. He sat on a black throne, wearing a gold corset about his midsection and a purple cloak over his shoulders. A heavy crown laden with jewels topped his big head. He clung to his illusion of human form, a fair handsomeness that reminded her of Rankar. Yet his eyes were unmasked, and that made Janier tremble to look upon them. They were empty black holes that led into nothingness. As she struggled to her feet, he stood from his throne and slowly approached her. He continued to chuckle as he reached into her belt and withdrew her bloodstained sword.

He smiled. I see you brought the fire.’

For a moment he held the blade at her throat. Then he broke the sword over his knee and tossed the pieces into the nearby volcanic pit. The lava flared briefly with yellow flame, and then settled back into its sober red glow.

‘So we meet again, Janier,’ Kratine said. ‘You come to my land, after all.’ He bowed. I am honored.’

Janier tested her cords. They were strong, tightly fastened. She was not going to break free. She was surprised to feel Chaneen 's ring still on her finger.

‘You will get nothing from me, Kratine,’ she said. ‘Best you kill me now and save your time.’

Kratine stepped back as if surprised. 'Kill you? I have no intention

of killing you. I intend for you to return home. Yes, that is what I intend.’

‘You lie.’

‘Lie, my Princess? Why would I lie to you? Surely you accuse me falsely.’

I will not be tricked,’ she said defiantly.

‘Are you so eager to die?’ Kratine glanced at the boiling mud. I would regret destroying such a beautiful woman. Truly, I would.’ He moved closer, and she could feel his breath in her face. ‘But I’m sure I won’t have to, for you are going to perform me a valuable service. Yes, you, Princess Janier. You are going to be my emissary, to your exalted Queen. I want to offer Chaneen a truce.’

‘After you promised the same to Rankar?’ Janier said bitterly. ‘And then murdered so many of the Sastra? Chaneen will not believe you.’

‘But you have to believe me, Janier. You have no choice but to be my emissary.’ He paused. ‘Come. We are reasonable beings. I have few warriors left. Your own army is gone. The killing has helped neither of us.’

Janier glanced at the watching throng. ‘You appear to have sufficient force left to overrun the Garden.’

‘That is where you are wrong. You did not wield the fire. Only your sister’s invocation could have brought the Messenger. I know Chaneen still waits in your Garden. I have no desire to face her.’

‘Where is Rankar? Where is Tier?’

‘Your King is dead.’

‘That was your purpose from the beginning. To lure him here.’

‘Need I refresh your memory? Rankar volunteered to come here. I originally had no intention of bringing him to my land. He surprised me with his request.’

‘Why did you kill him?’

Kratine chuckled. ‘A silly question.’

‘What did you want the couple for?’

‘For reasons that will become clear to you soon.’

‘Where is Tier? Did you kill him, too?’

Kratine stepped behind her back. She could feel his eyes on her body. ‘You are my captive. Is it fair that I have to answer all your questions? Don’t you want to hear the conditions of the truce 1 am proposing?’

Janier stood straight. ‘I am listening.’

Kratine touched her hair. His fingers felt like claws, as indeed they actually were. ‘You are like your sister, Janier, very beautiful.’

‘List your conditions.’

Kratine took a step away from her back. ‘Of course. First, Chaneen must swear an oath never to invade my land.’

'You know she would never do that, 'Janier said.

‘Then it is a simple request.’

‘You try to deceive me. You said your people could not survive in Asure. Now you say you are content with what you have?’

‘You twist my words. I did not say I am content.’ Kratine walked back to his throne. On the right side of the black seat were three huge brown oval eggs. He selected one and returned to her side. ‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked.

‘Yes. The chamber in which your unborn grow.’

‘Very good, Janier. I hold an Asurian child on the verge of birth. Unfortunately, this infant can’t survive in this land, as you have pointed out. Indeed, this child is about to die.’ Kratine cracked the top off the egg, and a horrible stench assailed Janier’s nose. The Asurian King dug inside the shell and removed a squirming miniature of the monsters that watched from the stands. Careful not to spill the fluid inside the shell, Kratine set down the egg and carried the struggling infant to the edge of the lava pool.

‘What are you doing?’ she cried.

‘I’m making a small sacrifice to emphasize my point.’ He lowered the kicking infant slowly into the mud. There came a shrill scream as the creature’s feet were seared off. Kratine, however, was patient. He took his time killing the creature. Finally he returned to her side. ‘You see now how willing I am to sacrifice my own in order to reach a truce?’ he said.

Janier saw nothing of the kind from his act, only that she didn’t want

to be lowered into the boiling mud. For the first time in her life, fear dominated her thoughts. She decided to feign cooperation in the hope of escape.

I will carry your message to my sister,’ she said. ‘What are your other conditions?’

Kratine nodded. ‘Ah, a change of heart. That is good. But what I have to say next is difficult. I admire you, Janier. You have spirit. You are a great warrior. None could doubt your abilities. But you have brought great misery to my people. Even Rankar did not inflict the fire so often and so mercilessly. You had my warriors on the run. They were clearly defeated. Only a small number escaped across my bridge. You knew there were too few of my warriors left to harm your people. Yet you pushed forward and crossed my bridge with the intention of killing the last of the Asurians. That was not necessary. That was evil.’ Janier held her wrath in check. ‘You attacked us first.’

‘We attacked out of need, so we could live. We have little water here, and what little we do have, we are forced to hoard underground. Naturally we tried to invade your Garden. But you came here to kill for the sake of killing. Again, I say to you, that was evil.’

Anger overshadowed Janier’s caution. ‘I have seen the way your people fight. They torture their captives. They drink their blood.’

‘They drink because they are thirsty from lack of water.’

'In our mountains, there was muck water, 'Janier said.

Kratine ran a sharp finger over the top of her breasts. ‘Does it make us evil, to enjoy our duty?’ Janier could think of nothing to say. Kratine continued. ‘Did Chaneen tell you to cross over into my land?’

‘You were telling me of your conditions.’

‘She told you not to go,’ Kratine said. ‘Is that not so? Speak! Admit that you were wrong. Admit that you violated your own Queen’s orders.’

‘Of what use is such an admission to you?’

Kratines voice softened. ‘I merely wish for you to be able to return to your sister with a clear conscience.’

‘What are the conditions of your truce?’ she repeated.

‘Just the one I mentioned. Chaneen must promise not to invade my lands. She has a good heart. I will believe her if she promises. I respect sincerity, Janier. That is the only other condition that 1 have. You must return to your home and sincerely express my views. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

‘Very good. I am pleased that you do. If you didn’t, I would send another emissary, and then I would have no reason to keep you alive. Still, I do have plenty of reason to put you to death, don’t I? Answer me truthfully.’

Janier was becoming confused. He held out freedom one moment, and then took it away. He made her feel worse than him. He was evil, there was no question of that, but had she also been at fault? His blank eyes taunted her, the scream of the dying Asurian plagued her.

‘You have another of my people?’ she asked warily.

‘But of course,’ Kratine said. ‘Should I send for him? He could go in your stead, and you could stay here with me. Do you think that would be best, Janier?’

‘Who is this one?’

Kratine spoke with pride. ‘A great warrior. The leader of your forces.’

‘Tier?’

’ ‘Yes. That is his name. Oh, I had forgotten. He is your husband. I understand your excitement. That is good. Should I send for him? He could be my emissary, I’m sure. He is very devoted.’

‘Devoted?’ she began.

Kratine leaned close and smiled. ‘You were about to say that your husband could not be devoted to me. Is that not so, Princess?’

‘Yes,’ she whispered.

‘Well, you are wrong!’ His wrath hit her like a physical blow and she cringed. ‘You see, he is mine now. Mine!’ Kratine grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her to the edge of the boiling mud. He held her face close to the lava and she had to close her eyes to keep from going blind. The heat was unbearable. 'I broke his will, Janier! I

tortured him. You humans can only take so much pain, and I gave him a great deal.’

‘Stop it!’

‘Stop? I’m just beginning. Would you like to see him?’

She nodded weakly. Kratine pulled back her head and spoke with sudden gentleness in her ear. ‘Do you love him?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

Kratine was sympathetic. ‘He was your lover. A fortunate man. I will bring him to you. Oh, look, Janier, he is already here. He is descending from above.’

Suspended from two metal chains, Tier was being lowered toward the pool of lava. They brought him to a halt only a dozen feet from where she stood, and she could see how his battered head hung unmoving on his lacerated chest. Both his arms had been cruelly broken; his jagged bones sliced through the skin at the elbows. His entire body was caked with dried blood. Janier could see no sigh of breathing, and she began to weep.

‘He’s dead,’ she said.

Kratine sighed. ‘It is sad. Yet such is the fate of many courageous warriors.’

Janier bowed her head. ‘We did not want to hurt anyone. We only wanted to be left alone.’ She glanced up again. Her husband’s eyes were half open; the sockets had rolled back into his head. ‘Oh, Tier!’

Kratine led her to where she had been standing before. ‘It is a hard universe,’ he said. ‘Survival is earned at a price. We of Asure know this. We are much older than the Sastra, and have greater experience and wisdom in these matters. I sympathize with your sorrow. Why not return him to Chaneen and let her mend his injuries with the power of her touch? You could stay in his place, as payment for the sins committed against Asure.’

Janier shook her head, trying not to look at her husband. ‘Chaneen can’t bring back the dead.’

'A pity. But perhaps he could still go as my messenger. I could record the conditions of my truce on a scroll, and attach it to his body, and

return him to your Garden. At least then he would have a decent burial. Come, I have asked you before. Should I send you or him as my emissary?’

The thought of leaving Tier’s body with Kratine was repulsive to Janier. Yet she knew she had to escape. She had to return to Chaneen and tell her of this atrocity. Perhaps then her sister would summon all her powers and lay waste to Asure.

I will present your wishes to my Queen,’ she said.

‘Excellent. You are a spirited young woman. You can present my position forcefully. You will do that, won’t you? This is important to me, that you are sincere, that you have an open heart. You have opened your heart to me, haven’t you?’

Janier nodded, giving any answer that would lead to freedom. I will explain everything to my sister that you have said.’

‘You are a good child.’ Kratine stepped behind her once more and

began to loosen the metal cords that bound her wrists. 'Now I will set

you free and you can be on your way. Yes, soon you will be home, and

walking in your fair Garden. Oh! What is this? A ring. Is this

Chaneen’s ring?’

'Yes, 'Janier said.

‘How is it that you are wearing your sister’s ring?’

‘She gave it to me before I went into battle.’

‘Why?’

I don’t know why.’

‘How touching,’ Kratine said, finishing with her cords. Blood flowed back into her hands and she was able to move her fingers. ‘How beautiful. But you understand, of course, that you must remove it now. Now that you are mine.’

I don’t understand,’ she stuttered. Standing before her tormentor, the ring seemed the only link she had left to her sister. She desperately wanted to hold on to it. Kratine slid his big head around the side of her cheek.

‘What did you say?’ he asked quietly.

‘I prefer to keep the ring.’ She shrugged. ‘It is only a small thing.’

‘A small thing,’ he repeated, with satisfaction in his voice. ‘That is true. But you are my emissary now, and it is the small things that matter the most to me. You did agree to represent me, am I correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then remove the ring. Throw it in the mud. Be rid of this small thing.’

Janier shook her head faintly. Kratine moved his ear close to her mouth.

I didn’t quite hear that,’ he said. When she didn’t respond, he took her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. They shone like flat black mirrors, and in them it seemed she saw her own soul; she saw it as empty as his eyes. ‘Tell me again,’ he said.

‘Chaneen gave the ring to me,’ she whispered.

‘So?’

‘She is my Queen, my sister.’

‘Then you think to deceive me!’ He shoved her to the floor where she struck her head for the second time. Once more the crowd jeered. Blood trickled from her head onto her gown. Kratine stepped forward and towered over her. He was furious. ‘You try to trick me. You have not opened your heart.’ Janier trembled. ‘No.’

The crowd began to applaud. Kratine spoke harshly. ‘Your lover was like you in the beginning. He thought he could take advantage of me. He had to be taught the error of his ways. In the end, after much torture, he learned. Do I need to repeat the lessons for you, Janier?’

She moaned. ‘No.’

He knelt by her side and his cruel manner vanished as quickly as it had come. ‘Are you afraid ? You can tell me if you are. I will understand.’

'Yes, 'Janier said.

‘You want to go home, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘As my emissary?’

‘Yes.’

He stroked her hair and now his touch was gentle. I can be merciful. But surely you realize I have to choose an emissary I can trust?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can I trust you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you want me to send you instead of your husband?’

She coughed. It was hard to breath in Asure. I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Do you want me to send you?’

‘Yes.’

Kratine helped her to her feet. ‘At last I sense sincerity in your words,’ he said. ‘It is good. Now I know you don’t mind abandoning your husband. Now there can be no doubt.’ He smiled. ‘Since the choice has been made, there’s no need to keep him hanging around.’ Kratine gestured with his hand to his aides. ‘Lower our brave warrior into his bath. Excellent.’

Janier averted her eyes. Yet suddenly there was an agonizing scream, and her head snapped up. Tier was writhing on the sinking metal chains as his feet turned to black stumps on the surface of the boiling pool.

‘Stop!’ she screamed. She appealed to Kratine. ‘Stop it! Please!’

He regarded her with puzzlement. ‘What do you want?’

Tier’s face twisted into a mask of agony. Blood dripped from his cindered feet into the lava. Faint red clouds of steam spurted over what was left of his calves. The audience cheered loudly as his cries rent the chamber.

‘You can’t do this!’ Janier cried.

Kratine spoke calmly. ‘But isn’t this what you wanted? To go in his place as my emissary?’

‘But you said he was dead!’

I don’t recall making such a statement. He’s a strong warrior. A little torture wasn’t going to kill him. To be honest, Janier, you surprised me when you assumed he was dead. You are full of surprises. I have always found that an attractive quality in a female.’

‘You misled me! Let him go!’

Kratine raised an eyebrow as he studied the situation. ‘If I let him go, he’ll fall rather quickly into his bath. That’s what I think, at least. However, I am always ready to oblige a beautiful woman.’

‘You’re terrible!’ Janier cried. ‘You’re evil!’

Suddenly her condemnations were choked off in her throat. Kratine had grabbed her neck, and he was strong, far stronger than she was. He pressed his face close to hers, and his breath was like the fumes that spouted from the lava, only it was cold.

‘Once more you accuse me, Princess!’ he said. ‘It was your own cowardice that put your lover in the mud.’

I didn’t know he was alive!’

‘You thought he might be dead, but you could not be certain. You thought only of yourself. You were willing to sacrifice him to save yourself. Isn’t that so? Admit it. Admit your sin!’

She pleaded. ‘I didn’t know.’

He gestured to Tier, still screaming as more and more of his body was lowered into the hissing mud. ‘You can be sure he is alive now. Look! He calls for you to save him. And I will release him, if you agree to take his place. Who is it to be, Janier? You or him?’

Janier hesitated. Tier was badly hurt. She doubted he could survive long enough to be brought before Chaneen. Kratine would release him, and he would only die later on. It would be a waste. Plus she couldn’t be lowered into that boiling mud. She didn’t want to go in there.

In the end Janier could not answer his question, and so revealed her decision. Kratine chuckled to himself as he spoke to his aides. ‘Put the brave warrior in his grave, and be quick. He is to be admired.’

Tier shouted forth a final burst of torment, and then there was silence as he disappeared beneath the surface of the lava. The audience settled back into their seats. Kratine squeezed Janier’s arm affectionately.

‘You have passed a severe test, Princess,’ he said. ‘We grow closer at every turn. I know you are destined to be my emissary.’ He put his hand on her back and spoke kindly. ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’

The chains that had bound Tier swung empty above the pit. I want to go home,’ she whispered.

‘Of course. You’ll be there soon. Just as soon as you take off Chaneen’s ring.’

Janier removed the ring from her finger, no longer able to resist. ‘Can I go now?’ she asked pitifully.

‘Throw the ring into the mud,’ Kratine said.

She intended to obey the order. But as she turned toward the lava, the ring slipped from her hands and landed on the black rock at her feet. She stooped to retrieve it, but Kratine stopped her.

‘You don’t need to touch it again,’ he said. ‘You’re doing well.’ Kratine paced in a circle around her. ‘Tell me that you renounce your people.’

Why?’

‘Say it.’

I renounce my people.’

Kratine smiled. His teeth were white and sharp. ‘Excellent. Now say: “I forsake Rankar’s protection.”’ Janier remained silent.

Kratine pointed at the lava. ‘Have you not learned from your husband’s example?’

She had to escape, she told herself. It was all that mattered. I forsake Rankar’s protection,’ she whispered.

‘I forsake Chaneen’s protection.’ Janier could not speak.

Kratine shook his head. ‘What a shame, that you should delay. Time is precious. Now you will have to say it loudly so that all my lovelies can hear.’ He scraped her trembling lips with a long nail on his right hand. ‘The words are such a small thing.’

‘I forsake Chaneen’s protection.’

‘Louder.’

‘I forsake Chaneen’s protection!’ Janier said.

‘Wonderful. Now do you have any questions you would like to ask before you return home?’

‘No.’

‘Nothing you want to know?’ Kratine asked.

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘What?’ Kratine asked.

‘Yes’

‘Yes, Master.’

‘Yes, Master,’ Janier said.

He was close, and her hands were free. Janier realized if she acted quickly, she could probably shove him in the boiling mud. But she did nothing. All she could think about was getting away. She felt so afraid.

I myself have a question,’ Kratine said slowly. ‘Nothing really important, but a question I’d like you to answer as best you can.’ He paused. ‘Do you believe in your Master?’

I don’t understand.’

‘In me? I seem to recall you insinuating earlier that I had lied to you.’

‘I’m sorry.’

I accept your apology. But let me explain why I ask the question. You indicated earlier that your people were noble and good, and that Asurians were disgusting and evil. Obviously you have such opinions because you are a moral woman. Your morality is what makes you human. Do you agree?’

She hesitated. ‘Yes.’

‘Very good. Now answer me this. In front of many witnesses, you renounced your people and forsook Rankar’s and Chaneen’s protection. Strong statements, I dare say.’ He leaned forward and caressed the nape of her neck. ‘But were you lying when you said those things?’ Janier shook her head.

‘Your sincerity is very important to me, Janier. Are you being completely honest with me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

What if I told you I think you ‘re lying to me.’

I’m not.’

I think you are.’

'No, 'Janier said quickly. ‘No.’

‘Do you hate your King?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your people?’ Kratine asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Your sister?’

‘Yes! Yes!’ Janier cried, lying over and over. Kratine had suddenly reached out and grabbed her throat once more, and now his nails tore into her flesh. Blood flowed from her neck onto the front of her white gown.

‘You lie!’ he shouted.

‘No!’

‘You try to deceive me!’

‘I swear. No, Kratine!’ He threw her to the floor, and she grappled at his feet. ‘Don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything you say.’

Kratine’s expression turned sad. ‘Such a shame. I honestly believed for a moment there that you had opened your heart tome. Such a waste of beauty.’ He motioned with his right hand to his aides. The chains that had held Tier above the lava swung their way. ‘Such a shame,’ Kratine repeated. The wrist clamps dangled in front of her eyes.

‘What are you going to do?’ Janier gasped.

‘Surely you know.’ He took the clamps and began to fit them around her wrists. She watched in horror, unable to resist.

‘No,’ she moaned.

‘Yes, Princess.’ He tightened the clamps securely. She tried to shake loose but she was too late. Kratine shook his head. ‘This is a sad day for all of us,’ he said.

She moved to her knees and tugged at his purple cloak, begging. ‘Don’t put me in there! I’ll be your emissary! I’ll do what you want!’ Suddenly her arms were yanked straight in the air. ‘No!’

They hoisted her above the pool of lava. Her arms popped at the joints and she kicked wildly, while all the time the audience laughed with pleasure. The mud bubbled beneath her feet and the heat scorched

her skin. Kratine stepped to the edge of the pit.

‘Lower her,’ he said.

Fumes poured into her mouth through her gasping breath and poisoned her lungs. She began to go down, into the pit, into the fire. Sparks flared and splattered her legs. Sweat mixed with blood poured off her forehead, and she knew she was going to die.

Inches above the boiling pool, however, Kratine bid his aides to halt her descent. ‘Tell me that you hate the Sastra,’ he said, ‘and I will release you.’

'I hale the Sastra, 'Janier whispered.

‘Tell me that you hate Rankar. Say it with sincerity. That shouldn’t be difficult. Hasn’t he already failed you in your time of need?’

Janier began to cough and was unable to speak.

‘Lower her further!’ Kratine ordered.

Janier’s foot touched the lava. The pain was immediate and overwhelming. She could smell her flesh burning. She screamed and screamed, unable to stop, even to beg her tormentor for mercy.

‘Wouldn’t you rather have me do this to someone else?’ Kratine asked.

‘Yes!’ she cried.

‘To Rankar for instance, if he was alive?’

‘Yes!’

‘You hate him, don’t you? For causing you this pain?’

‘Yes!’

And Janier did hate him. In her heart, she blamed her King for not having destroyed Kratine and his people in the first place.

‘Most of all, you hate Chaneen,’ Kratine said. 'She’s responsible for

your being here. While you suffer, she cowers in the safety of her

Garden. I dare say she has forsaken you. Don’t you hate her, Janier?

Tell me that you do, and I will let you go. Don’t you hale her with all

your heart?’

‘Yes!’

Kratine smiled. ‘Excellent. I sense, finally, that you are sincere. You have passed another difficult test. I will keep my promise.’ He gestured

to his aides. ‘Bring my emissary away from her bath.’

Yet Kratine was wrong. Janier had lied to him the last time. She still loved her sister. She would never stop loving her sister.

Janier was swung away from the pool. She collapsed on the ground’ as the clamps were removed from her wrists, unable to stand on her scorched feet. Kratine knelt by her side and stroked her back.

‘Please don’t kill me,’ she whimpered.

‘I won’t,’ he said gently. ‘I love you, Janier. How could I destroy one I love so much? Don’t fear, I’m going to make you immortal.’

She looked up, not understanding. ‘Immortal?’

‘Yes. I can do that for you now. You see, now you are like one of my children, like one of my own wives.’ He gestured to the watching throng. I have many, you know. They sit in this chamber right now. They are the fairest in all of Asure. They have given me many pleasures. But none, I think, will have given me the pleasure you ‘re going to.’ He tugged on her hair. ‘Do you want to be one of my brides?’ Janier froze.

He moved his hand and pulled at her gown near her hips. ‘Don’t you wish to be immortal? Certainly you don’t want to die. I understand that. It’s what makes us so alike. Our will to live. Do you understand?’

Janier shook her head. She tried slowly backing away. The crowd giggled. Kratine still had hold of her gown. He slowly pulled her back to him and patted her leg.

‘You will understand,’ he said. He stood and removed his cloak. ‘I’m so proud of you. You have come so far. In your land you were only a Princess. Here, right now, you will become a Queen.’

Still, Janier did not understand what he meant. ‘You said you were going to send me home,’ she whispered.

Kratine ignored her for the moment and stepped to where he had deposited the eggshell. Taking the shell in his hands, he raised it to his lips and sipped the sickly green embryonic fluid. He swallowed with satisfaction, and returned to stand over her. He kept the eggshell in his hand.

'I’m glad you decided to join me, Janier. For a while there I didn’t

know what I was going to do with the restrictions Rankar placed on my original plan.’

‘Rankar?’

[Abd]

‘Don’t worry about him. The dead are dead. Besides, he isn’t your King anymore. You forsook his protection, remember? I am your King. It’s a good thing, too, for the Asurian future.’ He sat by her side. ‘Janier, are you aware of the passion you arouse in my royal blood?’

Janier shook her head timidly. Now she understood. ‘No,’ she whispered.

‘Well, then let me show you.’ He grabbed her gown and ripped it across the top. The cloth tumbled from her shoulders. Kratine licked his lips as he stared at her naked breasts. ‘Excellent,’ he said.

She wept. ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘It’s necessary, and I enjoy it,’ Kratine replied. I always enjoy my duty. But I could never explain to you the importance of my taking you as a bride, the profound significance of what we’ve done here today. The young can never understand the pains of old age: the loss of one’s vitality and power. The young can never understand death. To them it always seems so far away. But for me, for too long, it has been close at hand. I’m not one to complain, though. I’m not concerned with problems. I’m concerned with solutions. Yes, even with the solution to old age and death. I assure you, I have discovered such a solution.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Unfortunately, there are now too few Sastra left alive to carry out the full scope of my plan. Too many died in the war. You might be surprised to hear I didn’t even want to go to war with your people. Be that as it may, there’s no sense complaining about what has happened. The day may be lost but tomorrow looks bright. The future is full of promise. Chaneen’s children will survive the blow I have dealt them. They will flourish over their lands, forgetting much of their ancestry, and losing many of their powers. But they will learn new ways of accomplishing what they want, and one day, one great day, they will come here. And on that day, they will be mine. Do you understand?’

'No, 'Janier whispered.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ He stood and motioned to his aides. Instantly a dozen Asurian bitches emerged from the shadows and pinned her to the floor. They stripped her naked and yanked her legs apart. Kratine tipped the eggshell above her, ready to pour the embryonic fluid over her bare flesh.

‘You can’t do this!’ she screamed.

Kratine snickered. I can’t? Even at this late stage in the game you fail to guess what I can do. You would have fared better, Princess, to have jumped in the pit when you had the chance.’

Janier struggled with what strength was left in her body against his brides, to no avail. ‘Stop,’ she cried.

Kratine stared down at her. ‘You are the scourge of your kind, Janier. You are the mother of the curse I now lay upon the Sastra. In time Chaneen’s children will come to hate you, and I will triumph. My seed will bear fruit. I shall be immortal.’ Kratine began to unbuckle his gold girdle with the hand that was not holding the eggshell.

‘Don’t touch me!’ Janier yanked her head from side to side. ‘Chaneen! Chaneen, save me!’

Kratine regarded her sympathetically. ‘You were tricked, Janier. From the very beginning, you have been a fool. This has all been an elaborate ritual. There were worshipers present. I was the priest. You are the sacrifice. Now we will consecrate the sacrament.’ Kratine tossed aside his girdle and his illusion of human form began to dissolve.

Janier twisted her body off the floor, but was thrown back down. The shouts from the audience grew louder. ‘But you said you would send me home,’ she said, sobbing. I want to go home.’ ‘I lied,’ Kratine said. ‘Are you going to rape me?’

I am going to love you,’ he said with a grin. I am going to plant my seed, and then I’m going to make you take your bath.’

Kratine’s human flesh vanished. A hideous monster stood in its place. He was scaled, and coated with mucus. He had claws for hands and horns for ears. A roving black snake uncoiled between his legs as it searched for the place to enter her. Kratine tilted the broken eggshell and

the embryonic fluid splashed over her body. Immediately her skin seethed with pain as it began to rot on her bones. The crowd began to chant a one-line prayer that echoed in her shaking head like a curse that would go to the end of time.

Then Kratine climbed on top of her, and entered her, and nothing could have been worse.

‘It’s me, my love,’ he said in a voice that belonged to her late husband. ‘Only me.’

Janier opened her eyes and saw Kratine had put on an illusion of Tier’s face. Quickly she shut her eyes, but he forced open her mouth and bit her tongue and sucked on her blood. Then the stagnant cold sprayed inside her, and the blood in her mouth cracked into ice. A numb wave of a million piercing needles crawled through her limbs and into her head.

Janier began to die.

Kratine suddenly pulled away, and kicked her, and spat on her. Perhaps he had not enjoyed his lovemaking as much as he had hoped. He spoke with disgust. ‘Hang this witch for her bath!’

Janier could not breathe. She was cold, so cold.

Kratine’s aides snapped the clamps on her wrists and went to hoist her above the lava. Only now she was heavy as stone and she slipped from their grasp and crashed back onto the black altar. It was then she felt Chaneen’s ring pressing into her shivering flesh. Somehow, blocking the move from Kratine’s eyes, she managed to slip the ring back onto her finger.

Now if only she could die, she thought, and stop the cold.

They yanked her into the air again. Her arms were twisted behind her back and she heard the bones snap inside. The huge dark chamber spun around her. The boiling mud now bubbled beneath her feet.

Then her eyes fell on Kratine for the last time. He had returned to his black throne and reclothed himself in human form - down to the last detail. He had human eyes now, blue eyes like hers.

‘The future will be ours,’ he said. He gestured to his assistants. ‘Lower her slowly.’

The lava hissed as it touched her skin. Her feet fused into blackened

stumps. Her shins disintegrated as her knees smoked. Yet still the terrible cold remained, the cold of Kratine’s seed, the curse that he said would one day awaken. Nothing seemed able to stop the cold.

All was not lost, however. Kratine had also been fooled. A spark of life remained with janier. In the last instant before the red mud closed over her, Princess Janier held aloft her sister’s ring and said, ‘Remember me, Chaneen.’

End of Chapter 25